Ripples in the Water
by X23 Maximoff
Summary: Scott has had enough. After everything that happened so far senior year, he's lost in the dark abyss of hopelessness. He feels it's all his fault. In a moment of impulsivity, he accepts an exchange with a sorceress to go back in time and prevent Peter's bit from ever happening. But will that make things better, or worse? Eventual Scott/OC.
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys! Here I am, starting another story. Oops! Hope y'all like it!

 **Chapter 1: Erase**

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"Give them hope."

She says this as if it's a simple solution. She says this as if it will be easy for him. After all, he's a true alpha, and being a true alpha means you have magic powers of strength and leadership and _hope._ But Scott can't see the hope. He can't see the light in the darkness. All he feels is the blackness pressing around him, the weight of the despair nearly crushing him. How can he have hope when his pack has been destroyed? How can he have hope when each of his friends is slowly distancing from him, lost in their own hellish life? How can he have hope when he couldn't help Kira, when he couldn't protect Stiles, when he couldn't help Hayden? No, hope has no place with him now.

"I wish this had never happened." he whispered. His whole body felt heavy.

"I know, honey. But you'll get the bad guys, you always do." Melissa said, stroking his hair. He knew she was trying to be comforting, but her words only made him realize how utterly exhausted he was.

"No, not this thing with Theo." he said, shaking his head. His mother looked on, confused. "Everything. I wish everything had never happened. I wish Peter had never bitten me."

"If I could take it all away for you, I would." she whispered, her hand falling to her lap. They never talked about this in any of her parenting books - how to protect your child when they become a leader of the supernatural.

"Thanks, Mom." he said. He tried to make it sound genuine, but it came out flat. He stood up, feeling a little woozy. He looked over at Liam, whose eyes were still burning gold in the moonlight. He opened his mouth for a moment, but turned away. What could he say at this point? The kid had every right to be angry. Maybe not to try and kill him, but anger? Understandable. He slowly started walking out of the library, the various broken bones and bruises knitting themselves together as he walked.

"Scott? Where are you going?" Melissa called after him. He paused for a moment.

"I just need to…clear my head." he answered, continuing his trek out the door. Once he entered the parking lot, the moon bathed him in its pure light. He could feel his power surging, his cells racing to regenerate and heal his wounds. His muscles felt taut; his blood was buzzing with the energy. For once, he didn't push down the wolf. He let his fangs grow out, his vision going red as it sharpened. For the first time in a long time, Scott let the wolf be free. He let out a long howl, then took off running. He didn't know where he was going, just that he wanted to _go_. And _fast_. He ran and ran and ran. He dodged trees and roots and bushes. He jumped over rivers and leapt off of rocks. He ran until his muscles burned, until his lungs screamed, until his heart was beating so fast that he thought it would burst out of his chest. And just when he thought for sure he was going to die, he stopped. His breath was ragged, his chest heaving. The fire in his blood had subsided, and he was left alone in the silence of the woods. There, without another soul in miles, he sat on a rock and let himself cry. The tears didn't last long - they never seemed to last as long as they needed to - but still he sat, feeling the emotions behind his eyes, choking him with a lump in his throat.

"Why do you cry, little wolf?" came a voice. Scott shot up, claws immediately out. How had he not heard this woman approach?

"Who are you?" he asked roughly. Anyone who could move with that much stealth was not someone to trifle with.

"My name is Selena." she answered calmly, her dark eyes gazing easily back at him.

"What are you doing here?" he questioned further. With all the new villains that had been taking a number for him, he felt threatened merely by her presence.

"I could ask you the same thing." she said. Scott eyed her warily. "I was looking for the source of the power in this town, to draw from it on the Super Moon."

"The Nemeton?" Scott said, even more wary now.

"That's what some call it, yes. Unfortunately, it has chosen to lend its powers elsewhere tonight." she said sadly, looking up at the moon. Scott felt his fear ebbing away. This woman obviously wasn't a wolf or a hunter, and didn't have the markings of a chimera. "You haven't introduced yourself yet."

"Scott." he said, still keeping up his brave front.

"Ah, yes. I've heard of you." she replied, going and sitting on a rock across from him.

"It usually doesn't end well when people tell me that." he said, choosing to stay standing.

"No, I suppose not." Selena said, looking back at the moon again. "But I have no use for a True Alpha's powers, so you have nothing to fear from me. Though with all your strength, I believe it is I who should be fearing you."

"It's not really all it's cracked up to be." Scott said shortly.

"Is that why you're here?" she asked. She looked at him similar to how his mother looked at him.

"I just needed to escape for a minute. All these things that have happened recently…they're all my fault. And if I'm honest, I wish I'd never became a wolf in the first place." he said in a rush. He owed her no explanation, but found himself feeling defensive. The words weren't supposed to come out, but they did.

"Changing the past is bold." Selena said quietly. In fact, it seemed just loud enough that he could hear it.

"Why are you looking for the Nemeton again?" Scott asked.

"To draw from its power. The Super Moon isn't only for wolves, you know." she said in a matter-of-fact manner.

"So what are you then?"

"Me?" she said with a glint in her eye. With a flick of her wrist, an apple appeared in her hand. She blinked, and it caught fire, making Scott step back. She placed her other hand over it, squashing the flames. When she opened her hands again, a glowing butterfly lazily floated away into the moonlight.

"A witch?" he said, his breath caught in his throat. They had never encountered witches before.

"Witch? No, no. I practice sorcery. Similar, yes, but not the same." she said as if she were a teacher scolding a student. "And I think, little wolf, I can help you with your problem."

"How?" Scott was immediately on guard again.

"A simple exchange." Selena said, standing from the rock and brushing her skirt off. "You show me where the Nemeton is, and I will give you the opportunity to change your past."

"That sounds too good to be true." he stated, eyeing her.

"You underestimate the power the Nemeton holds then." she replied. Scott hesitated. He knew what Stiles would say - this was a bad idea, there was no way they could trust this woman. Changing the past could only end badly.

Then again, Stiles had also apparently murdered someone in cold blood.

"I'll do it." Scott said as his emotions from earlier boiled over again. Selena clapped her hands in glee.

"Wonderful! Natalia, the map please." she said, turning behind her. A girl, probably close to Scott's age, slipped out of the shadows. Her wide eyes were taking every detail in, her hands digging into her jacket to pull out an old, heavily used map.

"Can you show us?" the girl, Natalia, asked. She seemed nervous; Scott could hear her heart tripping every few beats.

"I think so." Scott replied, pulling the map to him. He laid it out on a rock, looking at it closely. He pictured the map on Christ Argent's desk, as well as the land marks from the time in the water. In his mind's eye he saw the waves of the telluric currents covering the paper, passing through the forest. He saw the point where two converged, right in the middle of the preserve. "There." he said, pointing to it. Selena looked to Natalia, who nodded and took the map from him. In a flicker, she disappeared. Scott barely had time to register it before she returned.

"It's there." she said softly. Still looking at Scott with nervousness in her eyes. He turned back to Selena.

"So how does this work?" he said, feeling impatient. He needed to follow through with this now, before he had too much time to think and back out. Natalia looked at him, eyes wider than ever as she barely shook her head.

"Well it's quite simple. I'll send you back to the time of your choosing. You will have one hour to complete your task before you are pulled back to this present time." she explained.

"Will I lose that time here?"

"No, it will be as if you were only gone for a moment." she replied. She was smiling at him, but something wasn't quite right. Scott chalked this up to nervousness, ignoring it. "I must warn you, attempting to change the past is a very messy business. Things that are done, may not be able to be undone. And what you think may help may actually be quite harmful."

"I want to do this." he said adamantly, though Natalia was pretty visibly shaking her head behind Selena. Selena, on the other hand, was smiling.

"Very well. Where shall I send you?" she asked him, smile wide and head tilted to the side.

"January 3, 2011. Ten o'clock at night." he said firmly. Stiles would be at his house at twenty past, giving him the perfect amount of time.

"So it shall be." she said, and began waving her arms. Natalia had stopped trying to warn him, and instead just looked on sadly. Scott's heart stopped for a moment, and he had a sudden flood of regret.

"Wait-" he started to say.

"Good luck!" Selena interrupted. Blue smoke surrounded him. His body felt as if it were floating through mountain air - thin and cold. Just as he thought he was going to lose his breath, his feet hit the ground. He fell to his knees, unable to keep his balance. He quickly scrambled to a stand, taking in his surroundings. He was still in Beacon Hills - in the preserve. He checked his watch; if he could make it to the east edge in the next twelve minutes, he could intercept Stiles on the way to his house. Stiles would never get there, so they would never go looking for the body, and Scott would never run through the woods and cross paths with Peter.

Scott took off at a sprint, running through the brush. Instead of the emotional turmoil fueling him from earlier, he instead was running on anxiety and adrenaline. In the back of his mind, he couldn't believe he was doing this. But at the forefront, all he could think of was getting to the road and stopping Stiles.

Ten minutes later, he reached the edge of the preserve. The coast was clear, the road empty and dark. He quickly looked around, trying to find something that would stop Stiles' Jeep. He heard the buzz of a familiar engine in the distance; he had to move fast. There were some trees with low hanging branches, but none of them thick enough to stop the Jeep. In a frenzy, Scott unleashed his claws and began cutting at the bottom of one of the thinner trees. It was smaller than most, but still formidable. He claws sliced through the wood, eating away at it until it started to wobble. Headlights appeared in the distance; he needed to work faster. He dug through the wood as fast as he could, even though his muscles screamed in protest and he could feel the splinters digging into his fingertips. The Jeep was well within view now. With a final push, the tree leaned into the road, falling across it. He watched from the shadows as Stiles slammed on the brakes, turning the wheel. The old tires, low on tread, skidded across the slick road. The Jeep slid to a stop in the green of the tree, luckily not slamming into it. Branches stuck into the cab and the engine, making it difficult for it to turn over. He saw a frustrated flail from his best friend as the wet leaves stuck to his face. With a smile, Scott turned away. Part one of his plan was complete.

He took off at a sprint again, this time towards the town. He had prevented Stiles from getting to him, yes, but that didn't mean that Stiles would give up. No, to prevent all this from happening, Scott couldn't let Stiles contact him _at all_. He had spent a little too much time stopping Stiles; if he didn't hurry, he'd miss his window.

All the lights were off in the house, except for the one in his room. He checked the time, and knew he would be almost finished with his shower just now. Calling on his werewolf strength, he leapt up onto the second story, sneaking over to the window. A slip of the claw, and it was unlocked. He was just about to push it up when the bathroom door opened. He hit the deck, thankful that his past self was too busy toweling off his hair to see a guy that looked eerily like him dropping out of his window. Past Scott sat on the bed in his towel, taking his phone off the nightstand. Scott could see the screen, and saw that luckily Stiles had yet to call. Past Scott tossed the phone onto his pillow - even closer to the window. Scott knew he only had a few more minutes before Stiles rang. A few minutes before his whole plan had the potential to fall apart.

With a stroke of luck, Past Scott got up, heading back into the bathroom. Scott opened the window just enough to slip his hand through, grabbing the phone and pulling it back out. Without thinking, he turned and jumped off the roof. He had seen a glimpse of his past self exiting the bathroom as he turned, and wondered if Past Scott had seen him too. He didn't stop to look back, instead rocketing through the garden and into the protection of the next door neighbor's hedges. There he waited, letting the phone ring over and over as Stiles finally called. He checked his watch; the sorceress would be calling him back any minute now. He snuck out of the hedges, checking to make sure no one was watching. The street was completely empty. With a smile, he turned the phone on silent, looking for a spot to put it. As the screen lit up again, he had a thought.

"Sorry, buddy." Scott whispered, not pausing to think about how weird it was to apologize to your past self. Without hesitation, he dropped the phone into the watering can on the front porch, a satisfying splash as the phone hit the water, sealing his fate. Not a moment too soon, the blue smoke surrounded him again, but this time the trip felt warmer. He was ready for the jolt when he landed back on earth, and was able to keep himself upright. Selena was standing in front of him, but Natalia was gone.

"How was it?" she asked.

"Successful." Scott replied. She gave him a smile that suddenly made him very, very worried.

"Very good. Thank you for your help." she said, waving.

"Wait, but-" Scott reached out to grab her hand, but she was gone. Disappeared like Natalia had earlier. He turned towards Beacon Hills. "Well, at least she was nice enough to bring me back close to town." he muttered, walking away from the woods.

The closer he got to town, the more he realized that something was different. Off. Wrong? He looked at the street names, and realized he was very close to Stiles' house. He broke into a jog, noticing how silent and empty the streets were. They even seemed darker than usual. He turned into the Stilinski's neighborhood, his speed picking up the closer he got to the house. There wasn't any sign of life on the roads. No one was walking, driving, or even in their yards. All the houses looked abandoned. He made his way up the driveway, hoping Stiles was home. He noticed the Stilinski house was the only one on the street with the lights on. He could hear footsteps inside - Stiles' footsteps. He tried to turn the nob, but the front door was locked. Since when did they lock the front door? Trying to quell his panic, Scott knocked. The steps stopped, then moved quickly to the door. It was pulled open by Stiles, who was in a defensive stance. Scott's face lit up at the sight of his best friend. Despite the troubles they were having, he was happy to see him. Happy to be in this new life, where they didn't have to worry about supernatural creatures destroying them. He opened his mouth to greet him, smile on his face. Stiles, on the other hand, had his face contorted in anger. His eyes glowed gold, and with strength that he didn't usually have, he slammed Scott up against a banister on the porch, clawed fingers at his throat.

"Who are you?" Stiles growled, fangs showing through his lips.

"What? Stiles, it's me, Scott!" Scott choked out. He was so surprised by the response that he didn't think to retaliate.

"You're _lying_!" Stiles yelled, slamming his head against the bannister again.

"Why would I lie about that?" Scott yelped.

"Because Scott is _dead_!"

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Woo! Doozy of a first chapter! I know it's a little short, but future chapters will be longer. Hope you liked it! Leave a review and let me know what you think! Also, if you're bored on tumblr, you can hit me up under the username whindsor.

Thanks y'all!


	2. Chapter 2

Whew! This is the fastest I've updated something in a while. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews and favorites! Y'all are awesome. Hope you like this next chapter!

 **Chapter 2: Altered**

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"Dead? What do you mean _dead_?" Scott choked out, seeing as Stiles was still adamantly strangling him against the post.

"I mean my best friend is fucking _deceased,_ and if you don't tell me who you are and what the fuck you're doing here, then he won't be the only one." Stiles growled. His claws were digging into Scott's neck; he could feel the warm trickle of blood starting to seep down.

"Stiles, it's me, okay? It's really me." he said, trying his best to stay calm. Stiles' golden eyes burned brighter with a surge of hate, and he slammed Scott's head into the post again. Stars exploded before his eyes, but he breathed through the pain. He had to remember he was in a different time - he didn't know what this version of Stiles had been through.

"You're _lying_." he snarled, his grip tightening. Scott started to panic a bit - it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep his werewolf powers from kicking in, which he was sure would startle Stiles more.

"No no no, listen." Scott held up his hands in surrender. His mind was in a flurry trying to think of a memory that only he and Stiles shared - and shared before the night of the wolf bite. "When you were eleven you broke your arm, and you told your dad it was from riding a rail on your skateboard but really it was because you tripped over your shoelace and fell off the curb."

Stiles paused. His grip didn't loosen, but the gold faded from his eyes. "How did you know that? No one knows that, except for-"

"Me. Cause I was there." Scott interrupted. "And it hurt too bad for you to walk back so you sat on your board and I pushed you home."

Finally Stiles let go, stepping back as if Scott had burned him. His eyes were free from anger, and instead filled with shock and confusion. "Scott…?" he asked. His voice cracked with emotion, and Scott felt his own heart bursting within his chest. All of the sudden, it didn't matter everything that had happened with Theo and the Dread Doctors and whatever else - he wanted his best friend back.

"It's really me." he said. Stiles paused for a moment before he launched himself onto him, holding him in a bone crushing hug. Scott returned it, clutching his friend to him. No matter what happened, no matter how things were different in this timeline, he could handle it as long as he had his best friend by his side. After a few moments Stiles pulled back, trying to remove evidence that his eyes had been leaking. He nervously glanced around the street behind him, then pulled him to the door.

"We need to get you inside then. It's not safe for humans." he said. Scott was confused for a moment, the remembered the nature of the situation - Scott had never received the bite. Apparently, he had stayed a human until the very end. Stiles pushed him through the doorway, checking the street one more time before closing the door behind him.

"Why is it dangerous for humans? Wait, who _bit_ you?" Scott asked once they were safe inside.

"What, you're not gonna tell me why you're _alive_ first?" Stiles questioned with an incredulous look.

"It's…complicated." he said, not sure how to explain time travel and sorceresses. Stiles raised his eyebrows.

"You're back from the dead, I'd expect nothing less." he admitted. His brows furrowed. "Did you lose your memory or something? You forgot Peter is the one who bit me?"

"Peter?" Scott said, shocked. His world was suddenly reeling. He had gone back in time to save everyone by saving himself. Instead, he had destroyed Stiles' life.

"Yea. Right after Christmas sophomore year. Dude we've been over this story a hundred times." Stiles was visibly confused at this point.

"Run it by me one more time." Scott requested.

"Scott?" a feminine voice came from behind him. Scott whirled around to find Lydia, looking like she had just woken up. Her reddish curls were messed, and she had on one of Stiles' flannels.

"Hey." Scott said with a smile. After his run in with Stiles, he was hesitant. If he was dead in this timeline, he needed to be careful with how he reintroduced himself to his friends. Lydia looked to Stiles, and Scott could see him nodding in affirmation out of the corner of his eye. Suddenly his vision was blinded by red hair, and his dear friend Lydia, who went to school with strangulation marks and strutted through the halls as if they were catwalks, was crying into his shoulder.

"But how?" she asked after a minute, looking at him and putting her hands on his cheeks, as if she couldn't believe he was real.

"We hadn't quite gotten to that part yet." Stiles said, a grin on his face. Scott could see the ghost of the Stiles he had before all this happened in that grin.

"Well I want to know everything. Are you hungry? You have to be hungry. Coming back to life has to make you hungry, I'll see what we have in the kitchen." she said in a rush.

"Um, Lydia…" Stiles stopped her, gesturing to her outfit. She looked down, as if just realizing she was in her pajamas.

"Pants. I'm going to put on pants, and then we'll have food and discuss everything." she said, turning and nearly running back upstairs. Scott looked to Stiles with his eyebrows raised. Stiles eyed him warily.

"It's been like a year Scott you forgot about me and Lydia too?" he asked. Scott shook his head.

"We'll revisit that later." he replied. "Where's your dad?"

Stiles paused. Various emotions crossed his face - anger, sadness, hurt - but none of them stuck. "He's uh, gone. To San Diego."

"San Diego? What's he doing in San Diego?" Scott couldn't put the pieces together. He was going to have to make Stiles relive the last two years in order to make any sense of what life was like now. Stiles opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Lydia coming back downstairs - this time fully dressed.

"Okay that's better. Food?" she said, going into the kitchen without waiting for a response. "We don't really have much, but I'm sure there's something here that's good."

"It's okay, Lydia, we don't need to eat-" Scott said, even though he realized he was pretty hungry.

"Nonsense. You show up in the middle of the night back from the dead, you need something to eat." she didn't look at him as she spoke, only scouring the refrigerator and pantry. She pulled a red box out. "Pancakes? Pancakes seem like a good back-from-the-dead food."

"I'm not back from the dead." Scott replied, trying to calm her down. Stiles and Lydia both suddenly became very still.

"What?" Stiles asked lowly. "Don't tell me this is a Walking Dead situation, cause I can't watch you die. Not again."

"I'm not a zombie." Scott deadpanned. Their conversations were clouded with confusion; they needed to sit down and talk this all out. Now. "Look, maybe we can eat in a little while. I think we should talk first."

"I agree." Lydia said after a moment, almost business like. She was in her _get-things-done_ mode. She moved to the kitchen table, Stiles and Scott following after her. Both of them still looked at him as if he had an extra head. Their eyes were wide and followed his every move. But once they were sitting there, he found that he didn't know what to say.

"So…" Stiles said after a few minutes, clearing his throat. "…are you gonna say why you've forgotten everything, but aren't exactly back from the dead?"

"I don't know exactly where to start." Scott said slowly. "I'm…not exactly the same Scott you knew."

Stiles' eyes flashed gold again, and Scott could tell he was trying to keep his composure. "Alright. So who are you?"

"I'm still Scott. The same Scott McCall you grew up with. The same one who's been your best friend since we were eight." Scott tried to mollify him. "I…how do I put this…"

"Plainly and quickly." Stiles said. Scott could hear his heart beat rising. The distrust was back.

"Two years ago, you came to my house the night before school started and said that you'd heard about a murder on the police radio. But they had only found half a body." Scott started.

"No, I tried to call you about that, but you didn't answer, and a tree fell in the middle of the road on my way to go get you." Stiles responded, sounding suspicious. Scott shook his head.

"We went searching for the body, but your dad caught us. You covered for me, and I ran - but I got lost in the woods. Peter Hale was wolfed out and bit me." Scott continued.

"No, you were at home in bed." Stiles said, growing angry. " _I_ was the one who got lost in the woods. _I_ was the one who got bitten by Peter Hale."

"You helped me control the wolf. It almost ended our friendship, but we always stuck by each other. So much happened…so many bad things happened because of me. Because I was a werewolf."

"You're _not_ a werewolf. And all the shit that's happened has happened because of _me._ " Stiles said, his hands balled into fists. Beside him, Lydia was sitting up stiff as a board, her eyes full of confusion. She looked at him as if trying to solve a very difficult equation.

"Things got so bad…I met this woman. A sorceress. In the woods. I made a deal with her, and she sent me back in time for an hour." Scott pushed on, ignoring their responses.

"What?" Stiles asked softly.

"I went back in time to that night, and I stopped you from ever getting to my house. From ever calling me. I thought, if I never got to the preserve that night - if Peter had never bitten me - then everything would be fixed. Everything would go back to normal, and we could just…live our lives. But instead of me getting bitten-" Scott finished.

"I was bitten." Stiles finished, letting out a long breath. "So that's why you don't remember anything. Why you don't know what's going on."

"Exactly." Scott said. He didn't make a move. Stiles wasn't looking at him anymore, but was instead looking at the table. His eyes moved as if he were reading or calculating something; he was putting the pieces together. The time travel, the change in the past, all of it.

"I'm not gonna lie, I kind of want to punch you right now." he said through gritted teeth.

"Stiles-" Lydia put a hand on his arm. He looked back up at Scott, and even if his eyes were the normal brown, there was still a fire of anger behind them.

"No. You said things got so bad that you wanted to change them. Stop them. Well, there's one problem." Stiles said with a sardonic laugh. "No matter how bad they were, I can guarantee they're worse now."

"You don't know that." Lydia said quietly. Scott was speechless. Stiles gave another mirthless laugh.

"Really? Cause in this other time line, Scott's alive. And apparently my dad is still with us." he said.

"What happened here? What's going on?" Scott asked, getting worked up now. He understood Stiles' anger, but didn't he see that he was just trying to fix things? Stiles, above all other people, should have understood that.

"You wanna know why my dad's in San Diego?" Stiles asked rhetorically. "Because a pack of alphas, a coven, and a freaking den of vampires has moved into Beacon Hills. Not to mention the druid that's been circling us, as well as the dark Japanese spirit that has been trying to take hold of our friend. Then, to top it all off, the hunters are gathering and planning a mass extermination of all of us."

"Kira?" Scott interrupted, earning a dark look from Stiles.

"All the humans have left. Beacon Hills is a ghost town now, except for those of us who are supernatural. They're the only ones the Council allowed to stay." Stiles added. "And do you know who the example was? The one they used to teach the humans a lesson about what would happen if they stayed and fought for this town?"

"No." Scott whispered.

" _You_. I watched as Deucalion brought you in front of everyone. I had to listen to his irritating accent as he explained that if any humans stayed, or if anyone harbored them, that only death would be waiting for them." At this point, Stiles started getting choked up. Lydia seemed to have deflated, sitting with her arms crossed and eyes down on the table. Scott could see that these memories were beyond painful. "I watched as he ripped your throat out. I held you as you bled out. I took your pain away so that you could die in peace."

"I…I'm sorry." Scott whispered. Stiles was right, things were definitely worse now. Much worse. Stiles nodded.

"And I'm sorry I couldn't save you." he said. Scott's blood ran cold as a thought occurred to him.

"My mom? Is she…?" he couldn't bring himself to ask a full question.

"She's alive. She's with Stiles' dad down in San Diego." Lydia said with a small smile. Scott let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

"Thank God." he whispered.

"We'll have to hide him." Lydia pointed out, turning to Stiles. "If they catch a human, let alone _Scott_ -"

"But I'm not human. The time that I come from, I was the one who got bitten, remember?" Scott said, letting just a bit of his powers go. The world turned sharp and red as he let the wolf wake up. Stiles and Lydia both straightened up.

"You're an _alpha_?" Lydia exclaimed.

"A true alpha." Scott responded.

"You are _fucking_ kidding me." Stiles said, a shocked look on his face. After a moment, he laughed. "Of course you are. Of course you're a true alpha."

"They'll have to let him on the Council." Lydia whispered. Stiles paused.

"I mean, they don't _have_ to." he whispered back.

"Maybe it's something we'll deal with tomorrow, yea?" Scott asked. They both looked to him again. "It's been, uh, kind of a difficult evening. Maybe we'll just figure stuff out tomorrow."

Stiles and Lydia nodded. "That doesn't sound like such a bad idea." he said.

"Cool." Scott agreed. "Now…didn't you mention something about food? Cause I'm starving." he said with a smile. They smiled back, Lydia getting up and going back into the kitchen.

"I wasn't kidding earlier. I think this is all we have." she said, pulling out a huge box of Bisquick.

"I like pancakes." Scott replied.

"Pancakes it is then." she said softly. Stiles went into the kitchen, pulling out the things to help her. After a moment, he stopped, and turned back to Scott.

"I'm glad you're alive, buddy." he said. Scott smiled at him, but it felt forced. There was a knot deep in his stomach as he processed the little information he had received. Had going back in time really made things worse instead of better? Scott didn't know what else to do, and didn't want to think about what he would have to do if things were wrong.

His brows furrowed as something occurred to him. "Hey Stiles?"

"Yea?" he answered, grabbing some butter and milk from the refrigerator.

"Who's your alpha?" he asked, trying to keep his tone even.

"Derek." Stiles said with a shrug. "Why?"

Scott was still for a second. "Just curious." So Peter died in this time line too. But did he come back to life? He opened his mouth to ask, but shut it again. If he came back the same way he did in his time, then he didn't want to ask Lydia about it.

He spent the night in the guest room, trying his best to get at least a little bit of sleep. It was weird, being in the Stilinski household knowing that it was just Stiles' house now. His body was completely exhausted from the events of the previous timeline, as well as with the drama of the night. But his mind was whirring. He had a whole list of friends in his mind that he wanted to ask Stiles and Lydia about, but he was scared to bring up bad memories for the two. His list of questions was long, but he pushed it to the back of his mind. There would be time tomorrow for them to answer more questions. The biggest one weighing on him, currently, was this "council" they spoke of. The one that decided who lives and who dies. The one that killed his mother's only child in front of her before running her out of her home. He let out a frustrated sigh before turning over, determined to sleep. He knew he needed it if he was going to face…whatever he was going to face tomorrow.

Sleep was not Scott's friend that night. When he wasn't worrying about what was going on now that he had changed the past, he was thinking about the old past. The one where Liam hated him, where Stiles wasn't speaking to him, where Kira was gone. His heart felt heavy as everything wrong with his life weighed down on him. He had changed the past so he could forget what had happened; now, he had a whole new future he needed to fix.

He was relieved when the sun finally started rising. That, plus some vague scents coming from the kitchen, gave him the excuse to get out of bed. He could smell the coffee in the kitchen long before he saw anyone. He found Lydia sitting at the kitchen table, her laptop and a spread of school supplies on the table in front of her.

"The school is still open?" Scott asked, surprised. Beacon Hills High could barely manage to stay open in his time line, let alone this one. Lydia shook her head.

"It shut down whenever the humans left. So I found an online high school to get my diploma and get out of here." she said, pausing the lecture she was listening to and turning to him. Scott slid into the seat across from her at the table, idly reaching out and messing with one of her pens.

"Things are pretty bad here, huh?" he asked quietly.

"They're not great." she murmured. "But we already talked to Derek. He thinks that college will be a good enough excuse for Deucalion and the others to let us leave."

"So you're trapped here?" Scott was shocked.

"'Trapped' is a strong word." Lydia said. "I mean, we still live life pretty normally. Deucalion and the others have rigged it so we still get power, and water, and decent WiFi. The grocery store is still stocked. We even still get the new movies that come out."

"But?" Scott prompted.

"But we aren't allowed to leave Beacon Hills." she said. "Yet."

"Yet." Scott said with a smile that didn't quite feel sincere. Tell-tale thumping came from above them, and a few moments later Stiles emerged, dressed to leave the house.

"Where are you going?" Lydia asked. "We have Spanish to do this morning."

"Derek called. There's an unknown omega wolf on the southern outskirts. I'm gonna go help track him." Stiles explained, slipping his phone into his back pocket.

"Be careful." Lydia said, leaning her head up towards him. He gave her a chaste kiss before turning to Scott.

"Keep your head down, okay? I don't know what we're gonna do about this whole thing just yet, but we'll figure it out. I'll talk to Derek and see." he said.

"You trust him?" Scott asked, surprised. He assumed Stiles would die being suspicious of Derek.

"Well, I trust him more than the others." he answered. He gave them a nod before heading out the front door. They watched as he left, traipsing down the driveway before climbing into the Jeep and driving away.

"If they don't find the wolf first, Deucalion will probably kill him." Lydia answered his unasked question.

"Without even giving him a chance?" he responded.

"Deucalion runs a pack of alphas. He has no room for weaker wolves." she said, opening her textbook and turning to a later page.

"So why not just let them go?" he continued.

"Because he can't have Derek getting stronger either." she said sadly. "If Derek chooses to keep him in the pack, he'll be safer. But none of use are ever completely safe."

"I'm sorry Lydia." Scott said. "This is all my fault. If I had just left things as they were…yea, they were bad, but we could fix it. We could always fix it."

Lydia gave him a smirk that she usually gave whenever she knew something no one else did. "Well then, I guess we'll just have to fix it again."

"I guess we will." he said with a grin. She turned back to her Spanish work.

"Alright, I've got learning to do. Feel fee to make yourself at home." she said, quirking one corner of her mouth in a smile. Scott was impressed at how seriously she still took her academics. Not surprised, but still impressed.

"I'll leave you to it." Scott said with a nod, getting up from the table. He wanted to ask more questions, but also didn't want to overwhelm her, or distract her. Instead he wandered to the back of the house. He thought about heading upstairs to Stiles' room to play video games, but it felt too intrusive - after all, this wasn't just a different Stiles, the room seemed to belong to him _and_ Lydia. He settled in the den, turning on the TV. The den was really the optimal spot - there was only one small window, and it faced the backyard. He also assumed that the plants he and Stiles put in front of the window to hide the light at night were still there; they had strategically placed them so the Sheriff couldn't tell they were still up whenever he got home from work. If he needed to hide out in the Stilinski (Stilinski-Martin?) house, the den was the place to go.

The time passed slowly. Scott felt itchy, wanting to get up and do something. Patience had never been one of his strong suits, and it was even weaker nowadays. It seemed like years had passed before he heard the sound of the Jeep pulling up to the house. He waited for Stiles to come in and greet Lydia before coming out of the den. Stiles looked tired and muddy, but he wouldn't sit down. Instead, he was peeling off his flannel and shoes, exchanging them for others that were waiting at the door.

"Good, you're still here." he said.

"You thought I'd run?" Scott asked, a little hurt. Stiles paused for a moment.

"Joke, Scotty. Sarcasm." he said gently. Scott closed his eyes for a moment.

"Of course." he replied, shaking his head.

"Stress always did kill your sense of humor." Stiles said, clapping a hand on Scott's shoulder. "But that's beside the point. Listen, Kali, Ethan, and Aiden are heading back to Deucalion right now, which means no one is watching us. We need to get you to Derek's loft now so we can figure out what to do."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Scott asked.

"It's the only idea." Lydia said, coming back downstairs and grabbing some boots from next to the door. She was no longer in her comfortable clothes, instead dressed to leave the house. "We can't risk Deucalion finding you first, that would be disastrous."

"Okay. Time to go then." Scott agreed, following Stiles and Lydia out to the Jeep. They took the usual roads to Derek's loft, the streets empty and quiet. It was eerie, driving through these streets that he knew so well, yet seemed so different. He had a sudden longing for his mother - for her calm and logic, and for the sense of something familiar. Something that would be the same in this new life.

They pulled into the back alley of the loft, as opposed to the front. Scott thought it looked more suspicious, but Stiles explained that he often parked here, so nothing would seem amiss if anyone else were to see. He still paused before letting Scott out of the back, making sure there weren't any prying eyes. He unlocked the back door, ushering them in before closing it and locking it behind them. They took the elevator up to the top floor, then went down the hall to Derek's main apartment. Without knocking, Stiles opened the door and led them inside. Scott didn't know what to expect when he walked into the loft, but he was still surprised to see Boyd, Erica, and Liam lounging in the living room area. Isaac was in the kitchen, browsing the refrigerator. There were a few other people that he recognized from school, but didn't know their names.

"That's Isaac, Boyd, Erica, and Liam." Stiles said, pointing them out.

"They're familiar." Scott replied. They turned to the other side of the room.

"Then there's Jace, Leah, and Elsa over there." he pointed to the pool table, where two blonde girls and a dark haired guy were playing a game.

"Those are unfamiliar." he said.

"I'm sure lots of things are, buddy." he said with a sympathetic nod. Scott paused for a moment.

"Wait, where's Malia?" he asked, turning to Stiles. Stiles' brows furrowed.

"Who's Malia?" he responded, making Scott hesitate.

"Never mind." he said, shaking his head. He heard someone coming down the spiral stairs, and looked up to see Derek, followed by Cora.

"Scott?" Cora asked, stopping at the bottom of the stairs. Her eyes were wide, and it was clear she didn't believe what she was seeing. Scott was confused by this reaction (he and Cora had never been very close), but figured it would make sense later.

"It's really him." Stiles assured her. She crossed the room in a few long strides, practically jumping into his arms. He was bewildered by this, but supposed they were good friends in this time line. The light bulb finally clicked on as she pulled back and kissed him fully on the mouth. In his surprise, he went stiff, which she immediately noticed. She pulled back roughly, stepping back and looking at him with suspicion.

"We, ah, should have mentioned that he's still Scott, but from a different time line." Lydia said, biting her lip. Cora drew a deep breath, steeling her face to hide her emotions.

"I take it you and I…" she left the question hanging.

"Sorry. You moved to South America after being here for a couple months." Scott said sheepishly.

"Sorry for assaulting you." she said, carefully keeping her tone even. Scott could hear her heart racing as she tried to hide the storm that was raging in it. He gave her a sad smile.

"There are worse things." he said with a shrug. Cora nodded, pursing his lips for a moment before turning away. Without another word, she made her way back up the spiral stair case. Scott felt guilty, his heart sinking as he realized he had once again opened old wounds.

"I should have warned you." Stiles whispered.

"Might have been helpful." Scott whispered back. He looked up to see Derek staring at them, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Are you two done?" he asked with a bored tone.

"Seriously? Scott's back from the dead, and you're gonna sit there and act like this isn't crazy?" Stiles deadpanned.

"He's not the first person I've seen come back to life." Derek answered with a pointed look at Lydia. Scott supposed that answered his question about Peter.

"Zombie Scott." Isaac whispered, laughing to himself at the joke.

"Yea well, coming back to life isn't Scott's only surprise." Stiles said, a bit defiant. He turned to him. "Show them."

"Are you sure?" Scott asked. He didn't want to trouble the waters any more than he had to today.

"They need to know." Stiles said with an encouraging nod. Scott ducked his head, bringing up some of his powers - enough so his eyes glowed red in the dim lighting. Everyone immediately stood up, looking at him in shock. Even Derek couldn't keep his face straight after seeing that someone he thought was a dead human was actually an alpha, and quite alive.

"Well I'll be damned. Little Scotty is all grown up now." came a oily voice from the back room. Peter was perched against the door frame, and was the only one (besides Stiles and Lydia) that didn't look surprised at Scott's revelation. Scott blinked, pushing his powers back again. Everyone was looking at Derek, waiting for his reaction.

"Looks like we have a new ally. Well, two of them." he said in a nonchalant manner. Scott turned to Stiles.

"So you found the omega this morning?" he asked.

"Well, I'm a beta now." came a male voice. Scott turned to see who had spoken.

"Theo." he said tightly, fighting to keep his heart rate even. Theo smiled brightly.

"You remember me? I didn't think that would happen." he said, still grinning. Scott didn't smile back.

"I've got a good memory." he said slowly. He realized the tension in the room was rising, and it was his doing. He forced a smile; now was not the time to bring down Theo. For all he knew, he was good in this time. "But it's good to see you, man. What brings you to Beacon Hills?"

"Looking for a pack." he said with a shrug, and Scott ignored the intense deja vu. "Luckily Derek found me before the others did."

"Definitely lucky." Scott agreed.

"Now that this touching reunion has passed," Peter interrupted, strolling further into the room. "can we get back to how Scott here is alive? I believe there was a mention of timelines? Time traveling is a dangerous sport."

"Well, yea. That's kind of what happened." Scott said lamely. It was hard enough to explain everything to Stiles and Lydia, let alone an entire pack. Especially when the pack comprised mostly of people that had been dead or gone for the past year or so in his mind, plus people he had never met. Not so luckily, he was saved by a knock at the door. Everyone became very still, and Scott saw Isaac counting heads out of the corner of his eye. He knew the conclusion he would come to - everyone was already here, and they weren't expecting anyone else. Something slammed against the window, and Scott looked to see some sort of net covering it. He saw small, blue sparks going across the ropes; it was electrified, to keep them from escaping.

"Seriously?" Peter borderline whined. Without warning, the front door slammed down to the ground, as someone had kicked it open. Their eyes flew to see who the intruders were, and Scott watched as hunters fanned into the apartment. They weren't who he was focused on, though. His heart nearly stopped, and he suddenly understood every emotion that Cora had been feeling earlier.

"Allison, good to see you again." Peter said snidely.

* * *

Uh oh! Hunters and werewolves and crazies, oh my!

 **JackieOh:** YOUR REVIEWS SERIOUSLY GIVE ME LIFE. Some of your questions were answered here but not all of them bwahahahhaha! I'm so sad we didn't get to see Nat this chapter :( but hey that's what nEXT CHAPTER IS FOR! Hope you liked this chapter beautiful!

 **DayStorm:** I'm so glad you liked the first chapter! Things are definitely waaaay different since Stiles got the bite instead! Thank you so much for reviewing, I hope you liked this chapter too!

 **emele807:** BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA ok love you

 **kathrynwerewolves14:** I'M SO GLAD YOU LIKE IT! Hahahaha yes that ending...I had way too much fun with it. Thanks for reviewing, I hope you liked this chapter tooooooo!

 **bloodamber:** Things are definitely shot to hell...let's hope Scott can fix it! Thank you for your review! :)

 **CarlyLynn:** Yay I'm so happy you enjoyed it! This is definitely a fun story for me :) thank you for reviewing, I hope this chapter was good too!

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As always, please take a moment to review and let me know what you think! Also, if you're bored, you can come hang out with me on tumblr under the username whindsor!

Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Oopsies! Update took forever! Sorry, y'all, here's the next chapter!

 **Chapter 3: Chaos**

* * *

Scott's world slowed down as Allison walked into the room. Well, _strutted_ is more accurate of a verb. Her chin was held high, and she looked down on the wolves as if assessing vermin and how best to exterminate them. Based on what Stiles had said earlier, about the hunters plotting against them, he supposed she was idly thinking of different ways to kill them all. Her eyes looked to Derek first, but soon locked on him. Scott couldn't help but stare back, his breath caught in his throat. Some emotion flashed across her face, but it was gone before he was able to discern it. Had Allison loved him in this time line too? He couldn't tell, at least from the way she was presenting herself.

"So Derek," she said, turning to the alpha after what seemed like a year. "Word on the street is that you picked up a new beta."

"What, and the Argents decided to send their fiercest pup to check up on it? It's none of your business, Scrappy Doo." Peter snapped.

"Wow, dog jokes, really? You're better than that, Peter." she said, carefully molding her face to look unimpressed. Scott wondered if she knew that they could all smell the little bit of fear that she couldn't let go of. "And it is my business, seeing as adding another wolf to your ranks adds another name to my list."

"What list is this?" Theo spoke up, sounding nervous. Scott tried really hard to feel sorry for him, but couldn't muster it.

"Theo, go to your room." Derek said shortly. Theo looked confused, but slowly backed into the room he had been in when Scott first arrived.

"Actually, that's my room." Isaac muttered. Derek gave him a glare that clearly said now was not the time to talk back.

"He literally came into town today, Allison. You could at least wait twenty four hours before terrifying him."

"Why? He should know there's a storm brewing right at the borders." she said with a shrug.

"Poetic." Derek deadpanned. "We haven't done anything wrong, everything wrong has been done by Deucalion. You know that."

"This many of you in one place - it's just a matter of time." she said as if she had just closed a business deal. "Just make sure he knows the rules. And what happens if you break them."

"We'll note your visit in the meeting minutes." Peter retorted. She perked an eyebrow, but didn't give him a response. Instead, she turned back to Derek.

"Also, out of curiosity, are you going to tell me how long Scott McCall has been back from the dead?" she asked.

"Also less than twenty four hours." Derek said shortly.

"Excellent. Well, he's coming with us." she said, gesturing to one of the men with her. Scott didn't recognize him - he must be a long lost Argent who never visited. Scott backed away as the man stepped towards him.

"Absolutely not." Stiles said, pulling Scott behind him. It was a weird sensation, being the protected instead of the protector.

"He's a human and humans by default are under our protection." Allison stated.

"He's my best friend, and therefore under _my_ protection." Stiles retorted, eyes glowing gold.

"You have no right-" Allison started.

"I have _every_ right." Stiles said through clenched teeth. His claws were starting to show, which meant the men with Allison cocked their guns and stepped forward. She held up a hand, and they stopped moving towards them. Allison and Stiles stared each other down, one showing anger and the other defiance. Everyone else was holding their breath, waiting to see what happened.

"Allison, I suggest you leave before you end up having a reason to stay." Derek said slowly. "If Scott needs protection, we will send him to you."

"I'll take your word for it. Against my better judgement." she said after a moment, lacing the statement with a thin layer of sarcasm. She gestured to the guys with her, and they started filing out of the room.

"Hey Allison?" Derek said. Allison stopped, turning to him with an expectant look.

"Yes?" she answered.

"Would you mind un-electrifying our window please?" he asked with fake sweetness. She gave him a dark smile before reaching into her pocket. She pulled out a small box, and pressed a button on it. Immediately they all heard the thing on the window disengage, falling to the ground below. Without another word, she turned and left, leaving silence in her wake. Everyone was still for a moment, until Isaac let out a loud sigh and went back to the kitchen. Then, everything seemed to explode, with everyone talking at once. Derek pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment before gazing at the ceiling, as if praying for more patience.

"Everyone, shut up!" someone yelled. It wasn't Derek, but instead Cora from the top of the stairs. Everyone actually paused, but only for a moment. When the cacophony started again, Cora rolled her eyes and went back upstairs and presumably into her room. Scott looked around to find everyone preoccupied, freaking out over the hunters. Derek began trying to calm everyone down, ignoring the multiple pairs of glowing eyes looking at him. Scott took this opportunity to slip away, climbing up the wire spiral staircase to the upstairs. It didn't take him long to find Cora's room - he hadn't known her well back in his time, but he knew her well enough to know that her room would probably be in the back corner. Luckily her door was open, so he could spot her sitting at her window. He stood awkwardly by the door, not sure where to go from here.

"You still walk the same way." she said without turning to look at him.

"What?" Scott asked, confused.

"I could still tell it was you, from your footsteps." she responded quietly. "Does Derek need me?"

"Huh? Oh, no." Scott said, realizing she thought he was just here as a messenger. "I actually wanted to see if you were okay."

She gave him a humorless smile. "Of course you did." she said. "Despite having my heart broken all over again, I am, in fact, okay."

"Okay." Scott said, nodding. He didn't believe her, not one bit. "If it helps, I just happened to go through the exact same thing about ten seconds ago. So if you need someone to talk to, I'm here."

Cora raised one eyebrow, her mind whirring. "Allison?" she asked after a moment. Scott nodded.

"So believe me when I tell you I know how much it sucks." he added. Sure, he had moved on from Allison in his time. But that didn't mean he didn't still love her, or that it didn't feel like a punch in the gut to see her alive again.

"No offense, but you're probably the last person I want to talk to about this." she muttered, looking back out the window.

"Fair enough. Just wanted to check." Scott said, waiting a couple seconds before turning and heading back downstairs. There he found an even worse surprise waiting for him in the form of Deucalion.

"Ah, so the rumors are true." the demon wolf said. Scott stopped at the foot of the stairs, turning to Stiles.

"Seriously?" he whispered. Stiles let out a sigh.

"Word travels fast I guess." he muttered.

"But where did the word start?" Scott asked. Stiles shrugged in response, making a face that said he didn't really ask questions anymore.

"I didn't believe it when they told me you were alive." Deucalion continued. "I guess I didn't kill you as well as I'd hoped."

"It's a long story." Scott said in response. He found he still harbored a lot of anger towards Deucalion. Really, it was a day of remembering all the anger that he had pushed down over the past two years.

"I suppose I'll just have to try again then." he stated, his claws slowly showing themselves.

"I don't exactly meet the requirements for execution anymore." Scott said, once again letting his powers show. This time it was a little easier, with his feelings towards Deucalion right at the surface.

"My my, what have I done?" Deucalion asked.

"You did nothing." Stiles retorted.

"So me sinking my claws into his neck has nothing to do with the fact that he's a werewolf now? Interesting theory." he stated sarcastically.

"Actually, he's right. This wasn't your claws, it was Peter's teeth." Scott said shortly. He had forgotten how utterly irritating Deucalion could be. Peter perked up from the corner.

"Really? Lil' old me?" he said, earning a glare from Derek. Deucalion perked an eyebrow, looking very unamused.

"I don't appreciate lies." he said lowly.

"Maybe nowadays there's more than one truth." Scott replied. Deucalion pursed his lips, and they could all tell that he was getting fed up with the way this conversation was going.

"I will get my answers, one way or another." he said cryptically, turning and leaving without another word. Scott sat down on the stairs, putting his head in his hands. He had expected everything to come together today. Instead, everything was falling apart. He felt a hand on his back and looked up to see Stiles.

"We'll figure it out buddy." he said softly. Lydia came and sat next to him on the stairs, taking his hand in hers.

"Okay, are we gonna have any more uninvited guests today? Cause if so, I need to freshen up or something." one of the pack members said. She was blonde - Scott remembered Stiles introducing her as Elsa.

"Shut up." Derek said shortly, gesturing to Stiles to follow him. Stiles nodded, going with Derek into the back room, while Elsa rolled her eyes at them.

"I messed everything up, didn't I?" Scott asked quietly. Lydia squeezed his hand.

"You're being too hard on yourself." she said. "The puzzle is just a little more difficult than you thought it was at first."

"I've never been that great with puzzles." Scott said.

"Nonsense, you'll be fine." she responded, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "Besides, I'm excellent at puzzles."

"Well, we've got a hell of a puzzle, that's for sure." he told her, trying to muster up a smile. Lydia patted his arm, then got up and went to go sit on the couch. Scott's mind turned for a few minutes, but he couldn't put any really coherent thought together. All he could think as he looked at the people around him was that he had never screwed up so badly. Before, he had made mistakes, sure. But he had always been able to smooth them over. He had always been able to somehow fix it. But here he was, sitting in the middle of Derek's loft with people that he didn't know anymore and a pack that he didn't recognize. He felt like a stone was stuck in his stomach as he realized that he had made a gross miscalculation in making a deal with Selena.

"You look like you need a drink." a girl's voice interrupted his thoughts. He looked up to see Elsa, the one who had spoken up earlier. She was standing in front of him, holding out a can of root beer.

"I think he needs something a little stiffer than that." the other girl - Leah? - deadpanned from the pool table close by.

"You gonna ask Derek for the good stuff?" she asked pointedly. Leah snarled a bit, but didn't answer.

"Uh, thanks." Scott said quietly, taking the can from her. He wasn't thirsty, but he needed somewhere to put his hands.

"No problem. Now I gotta go, she's gonna kick my ass extra bad now…" she said, rolling her eyes before strolling away. Scott watched her leave for a moment before turning to the can in his hands. He was somewhat curious what Leah meant about "the good stuff" considering their great wolfy tolerance to alcohol, but not enough to ask Derek about it. He popped the can open, taking a swig of the sugary drink and looking for Stiles. He wasn't in the main living area with them, so Scott assumed he was back with Derek and Peter. Scott found himself feeling kind of proud of his best friend, being second in command of this pack. He shouldn't have been surprised - Stiles was second in command with his too - but this was a _real_ pack. Not the ragtag island of misfit supernatural creatures that Scott had put together before.

The sun was sinking past the horizon before Stiles emerged again, looking frustrated. Derek's scowl was even deeper than usual, and he ignored the looks of his betas as he went to the refrigerator and grabbed a beer.

"You okay there, buddy?" Stiles asked, clapping Scott on the shoulder.

"Just, you know, being crushed by the weight of the world on my shoulders." he said with a humorless laugh.

"Classic." Stiles replied with a nod. Scott stood up, walking with Stiles to the front door. Lydia was already waiting for them, idly typing on her phone.

"Ready, guys?" she asked, looking up at them.

"You're not seriously doing school on your phone, are you?" Stiles asked in response, opening the door and gesturing for them to go through first.

"Of course I am. I'm not doing twice as much work tomorrow because of werewolf drama." she replied, slipping her phone into her purse and trotting down the stairs.

"I think I'd be stuck with a tenth grade education if it weren't for her." Stiles whispered very quietly.

"Absolutely you would. Luckily you have me." Lydia said, even though she wasn't supposed to hear his comment.

"Are you sure you're the one with special hearing in this relationship?" Scott whispered, grinning.

"You know, sometimes I wonder." Stiles answered, shaking his head. For the first time in the past twenty four hours, Scott actually felt a sense of normalcy. He felt like he was back with his best friends. He followed them out to the Jeep, crawling in the back and buckling up before Stiles pulled out of the alley, back on to the dark street. As he was driving, Scott tried to find the familiar in this unfamiliar present. The roads were all the same, the landmarks still there, but it felt different. It felt wrong.

"Hey, could we stop by my house?" he asked quietly. Stiles and Lydia were silent for a moment, looking at each other.

"Are you sure?" Stiles asked in response.

"I'm sure. I mean, you two don't want me to encroach on your forever, right?" he said, trying to lighten the mood with his answer.

"You are not encroaching." Lydia scolded.

"We'll go tomorrow. During the day." Stiles added.

"Why during the day?" Scott questioned.

"Remember those vampires I mentioned? It's pretty close to the full moon for them to be frolicking about, but you never know. It's best to stay inside at night nowadays." Stiles explained, driving by the turn that he would have taken to Scott's house.

"Duly noted." Scott said, leaning back into the seat. It was weird, hearing that vampires were real. He figured he shouldn't be surprised at this point, considering all the things they'd encountered over the past couple years. "Oh, what's the deal with Allison?"

"What about her?" Stiles asked.

"Pretty much after the whole incident with Lydia getting bitten, she's been on the hunters' side." Lydia added.

"Why? What was she like in the other time?"

Scott paused for a moment. He should tell them everything, about him and Allison and everything they went through. But it was too long of a story, and much too personal right now. So he simply said, "A little different. I was just curious."

They drove the rest of the way back to the Stilinski house in silence. Scott thought they were being a bit paranoid, avoiding going out at night, but realized after a while that he didn't really understand this new Beacon Hills. This was not the place that he had grown up in. So he accepted Lydia and Stiles' explanation, not pushing the subject further. They pulled up to the house and piled out; as soon as they exited the Jeep, the stench of blood hit Scott's senses. He crinkled his nose, looking to Stiles. Stiles had a similar response to the smell. They hesitated for a moment, but Lydia was already walking up the front steps. She was just reaching for the door when Scott and Stiles located the source of the smell. Unfortunately, Lydia also found the source of it.

"What the _hell_?" she squealed, backing away from the door. She didn't seemed frightened, though - just annoyed. A possum was attached to the front door via a large nail through its neck, blood still dripping onto the front porch in a slow, steady rhythm.

"Who would do that?" Scott murmured as Stiles cursed under his breath.

"Sometimes, Ennis likes to leave a little calling card to let us know that we've pissed Deucalion off." he explained, pulling a hammer out from behind an empty plant pot and loosening the nail. The possum dropped to the ground with a sickening squelch, making Lydia look like she was contemplating throwing up. Stiles let out an annoyed sigh, picking the poor animal up by its tail and flinging it. With his werewolf strength, the corpse flew over the Jeep and across the street, landing in the overgrown front lawn of their neighbors. At least, where their neighbors used to be.

"That's disgusting." Scott remarked.

"Yea, well, we don't expect much brilliance from that one." Stiles replied, unlocking the door and leading them inside.

The rest of the evening passed slowly to Scott. Maybe it was because they had nothing to do, or maybe because he was thinking about his plan for later. He stayed relatively quiet, not wanting to give it away to Stiles or Lydia what he was thinking about. They seemed to buy his act; perhaps they thought he was just trying to process everything that had happened. It was pretty deep into the night by the time Lydia and Stiles went upstairs, and even later by the time their movement stilled and Scott could tell that they were asleep. Even then, he waited another twenty minutes before making his move. He made his way from the guest room to the den, pushing himself up through the very window that they had worked so hard to block when they were kids. He ran through the backyard as quickly and quietly as possible before jumping over the back fence.

Scott stuck to the woods and side roads, trying to keep away from prying eyes. He knew in his head that this probably wasn't his best idea, but he wasn't exactly a fountain of great ideas at this point. He didn't hide his alpha powers at this point, using them to his advantage as he avoided areas where he felt the heat of other living beings. Once he hit the preserve, he saw nothing but a cold emptiness deep into the trees. He released more of his powers, more than he had in a long time. But instead of focusing on his strength, he instead focused on his senses. Suddenly he could hear every whisper of wind through the grass, every sigh of the leaves in the trees. A steady hum vibrated from nearby; the telluric current, telling him where to go. He took off in a run, making his way through the trees, following the current like the bank of a river. The hum got louder the deeper he went into the woods, until he felt like it was reverberating in his bones. Just when he felt he was going to break under the pressure of the current, he broke into the clearing.

The light of the near-full moon cast a blue shadow over the Nemeton. The dapples moved over the ancient tree with the movement of the trees. Though it looked like an unsuspecting stump, Scott could feel its power, reaching out for something to hold on to. It was strong, and unsettling.

"Selena!" he called, turning to face the woods. "Selena!"

"Well no need to shout." came the smooth voice behind him. Selena was sitting on the Nemeton, cool as a cucumber. Behind her in the shadows, Scott could see the girl that had been with her, her eyes wide and nervous. Did she know something he didn't?

"Everything's wrong." he said lamely. He wasn't particularly prepared for this; he had been rather certain that he wouldn't find her.

"Oh, Little Alpha. I'm so sorry." she said. She looked as if she were sincere, but there was a glean in her eyes that said otherwise.

"I need your help. I need to change everything back the way it was. At least then I could figure things out." Scott explained. Selena smiled, tilting her head to the side as she appraised him.

"Hm. No." she said shortly, smile still on her face. Behind her, the girl's eyes snapped to the back of her head, wide in shock. Scott felt his own jaw drop slightly.

"What?" he whispered. His heart was in his shoes. This had been his one shot.

"Well it's quite simple, Little Alpha, you have nothing left to give me." she said sweetly. "I warned you about this, don't you remember? I told you that things may not be able to be undone. That changing the past is messy. And you can ask dear Natalia here, I am not one to clean up messes."

Scott turned to the girl. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and she looked as if she was trying to solve a puzzle. She made her way out of the tree line, slowly walking up to Selena. Selena turned towards her with a look that said she was not welcome to come up to her at that moment. He watched as she leaned low, whispering very quietly to the sorceress. Selena stiffened, and she roughly turned her head away from the younger girl, her hair whipping her in the face. She still had the smile on her face, but it was very forced.

"So that's it? Just no?" Scott asked as Natalia backed away into the shadows again.

"Well you can try and bargain with me, but I've made it fairly obvious that it will be quite futile." Selena retorted. Her patience was wearing thin.

"Please. You have to help, there's nothing-" Scott started. Selena rose to a standing position, a fiery glare in her eyes as literal fire flickered from her fingertips.

"I do not _have_ to do anything." she said, enunciating each syllable so that Scott was sure to understand her. "This well has gone dry. Leave me, Little Alpha, while we are still on amicable terms."

Scott stood motionless for a moment. He looked at Selena, with her anger and power. She was a woman who knew how to get her way. He looked behind her to Natalia. The girl still looked nervous, but there was something underneath that. He could smell her emotions warring, though he couldn't pinpoint exactly which ones were fighting.

"I'm sorry to have bothered you." he said, his eyes going red as he looked at her one last time. She might have said they were leaving on amicable terms, but he knew that they would never work together again. Without another word, he turned and went back towards the town. He didn't bother running back; this time, he let his senses go high as his mind whirled. His only option had been destroyed, and now he had to build another one.

He soon realized that, while he was distracted, he had not been making his way back to Stiles' house. Instead, he was standing at the end of his street. He could see his house, its windows dark and the grass overgrown. He scanned the area, finding no signs of life. Neither Deucalion nor his minions were around. He stuffed his hands into the pockets, walking down the empty street until he was standing by his mailbox. The house, which had been so full of life in the other time line, stood empty and cold now. His steps were slow towards the front door, as he was a little scared to what he would find. Just as he reached the bottom of the front steps, he stopped. Something was off.

A low growling sounded from behind him, but it was not the growl of a wolf. He turned to see a tall, thin man in front of him. His skin was pale, his dark hair hanging limp around his face. But that's not what made Scott's heart leap in fear. It was his eyes that did that. They were a deep scarlet, trained right on Scott. They were not the warm red of the wolves though - they did not show power and strength and life. They were cold and dark and bloodthirsty. And terrifying.

With no warning, the man leapt at Scott. In reaction, Scott let his claws loose, grabbing the man's clothes and using his momentum to throw him into the fence. He jumped back up as if he didn't feel pain, which was even more terrifying than his eyes. It was then Scott noticed his teeth. They were long, pointed, and pearly white, with venom dripping from them. Looks like Stiles was right to be nervous about the vampires at night. Scott's breath was ragged as he tried to think back to every movie and book he'd ever seen. He thought vampires were killed by a wooden stake. This was unfortunate, considering all he had was claws.

Just then, the vampire erupted into flames. He let out a guttural scream which made Scott cringe. A few moments later, the body dropped, charred and smoking. Behind it stood Natalia, her face a mix of shock and awe. He wondered if she had ever done that before.

"We need to get inside." she said, running to him and grabbing him by the arm. She was stronger than she looked, pulling him up the front steps to the door. She tried to turn it, but it was locked. She closed her hand for a moment, then opened it, quickly pushing against the knob. With a thump and a soft click, the door opened. Scott heard another growl behind them, and quickly pushed her through the front door without looking behind them. He slipped in, snapping the door shut and leaning against it. Natalia dropped to her knees, reaching past his feet to run her hand along the bottom of the door. A purple flame followed it, dissipating moments after it was lit.

"What was that?" Scott asked, feeling a nice mix of startled, confused, and impressed.

"A vampire." she replied, looking at him as if the answer was obvious.

"No, I mean the whole…" he gestured at the door.

"Oh. A protection spell. Now they can't get in the house." she answered. She went to stand up, but stumbled, falling against the wall. Scott's hands went to her arms, holding her steady.

"Are you okay?" he asked. He helped her to the nearby kitchen table, ignoring the layer of dust on top as she took a seat.

"Yea. That was just a lot of magic to use in a short span." she explained.

"Let me get you some water." he said, going to the kitchen. He gave the faucet an experimental twist, and was met with nothing. The water had been turned off. He looked through the cabinets and refrigerator, but everything was empty. He was slowly realizing how _gone_ his mother was, but he ignored the feeling. That would be something to deal with later. He went back to the table to find Natalia slowly rifling through her bag. She pulled out a canteen, but not like any he'd ever seen during his brief stint as a boy scout. In fact, he'd really only seen water skeins like that in period movies and Skyrim. She also pulled out something wrapped in cloth; a moment later, it was revealed to be some sort of bread roll.

"It's okay, I came prepared." she said softly. Scott nodded, sitting down across from her at the table as she took a small bite from the roll.

"Did Selena send you?" he asked, unable to stope hope from bubbling in his chest. She shook her head.

"I, um…" she paused for a moment. She put the roll and cloth down on the table. "I ran away from her."

Scott was taken aback. "Wait, wasn't she your mom?" he asked, feeling very much like he was trying to completely a puzzle without all the pieces. Really he'd had that feeling every moment for the past forty-eight hours.

"Oh, no." she said, shaking her head vehemently. "I was her apprentice."

"Her…apprentice?" he repeated. "And she just let you leave?"

"Well…" she turned back to her roll instead of finishing her answer.

"Wait, you just left her? Can you do that?" he asked.

"You're not really supposed to." she said quietly, picking at the bread.

"So why did you then?" he asked, just as quiet. Suddenly there was more emotion in her eyes. He could feel her emotions building.

"Because we were given the gift of magic to help people, not to pick and choose who gets assistance and certainly not to just throw about willy-nilly to watch people's lives fall apart! And you know why she's not one to clean up messes? Because I have to clean them up for her!" she said vehemently. She paused, her eyes wide as she realized her outburst. She ducked her head down, her honey-brown hair falling around her face as she tried to hide from him.

"That's awesome." he said, truly impressed. She hesitantly met his eyes.

"Really?" she asked.

"Really." he responded.

"I just…She's turned so many people away. Made them suffer. But not like this. It's never been as bad as this." she said. "So that's why I left her. To come help you."

"Seriously? You left your apprenticeship just to help me?" he asked.

"I did." she said, more confident now that she saw his reaction. "There's just kind of one problem."

"What's that?" he asked. He didn't care what the problem was. No matter what, they could figure it out. He now had some seriously help on his side. Considering how fragile everything was in this time line, he needed all the friends he could get.

"Well, Selena never actually taught me the time travel spell." she said slowly, gauging his reaction. He could practically feel her nerves.

"What?" he asked, the one slip in his calm facade.

"I mean, I've seen her do it a few times, and I know how the magic feels, and we've talked about the theory of it…I just may not get it right the first time." she added. Scott nodded, but he felt himself become nervous. So his new friend came with a side of uncertainty. Typical. He put on a brave face, giving the girl a smile as she reached into her bag, pulling out another cloth package.

"Bread?" she asked, holding it out to him, as if she hadn't just told him that her magic skills were less than perfect. Since he wasn't able to formulate a reply, he numbly took the bread from her.

He was going to need some strength to get through this.

* * *

Woo! A lot going on this chapter!

 **emele807:** HEEEEEEERE'S NAT!

 **CarlyLynn:** I'm so glad you like it! I hope that this chapter was up to snuff as well! :D

 **Guest:** Ah I'm so glad you liked the concept! Yea Cora seriously breaks my heart in this one. I love her so much. The actual writers of Teen Wolf didn't do her enough justice...thank you so much for reviewing!

 **bloodamber:** I'm so happy you like it! Thank you so much for your review! I feel like I'm trying to take a lot of things the fandom wants (Alpha Derek, Stydia, etc) and then screw it all up. Because why not? Hope you liked this chapter!

 **allybz:** HERE YOU GO HERE'S YOUR NEXT CHAPTER! Domestic Stydia is seriously one of my favorite parts of this. I have so much fun with them. And I don't know why I ship Scora so much but I do? And yet here I am, putting Scott with an OC. OH WELL LOVE YOU HOPE YOU LIKED THIS.

 **MessInTheMirror:** Haha I feel like the subtitle of this story is "AKA Why Scott Needs To Sleep on All Decisions"! YES Scora is seriously such a thing that I love, and I have no idea why. And yet here I am hinting at it. And actually doing it in the Shivers sequel cause YOLO. ANYWAYS your reviews give me life and I love you and I hope that you liked this chapter!

 **JackieOh:** Gah Allison's gonna be the death of me for sure. I seriously can't wait for Cora/Nat interactions cause it's gonna be wonderful. I just love Cora and miss her dearly. And who knows about Theo...(jk we all know Theo is an asshole regardless). No worries about taking a bit, life is kind of a little more important than fanfic? Even if it's mine? LOLZ jk I love your reviews and you know what I even don't mind when it takes a while because then I get a renewed inspiration to write along with my warm fuzzy feelings inside! LOVE YOU HOPE YOU LIKED THIS CHAPTER.

As always, please leave a review and let me know what you think! Also if you're bored, check me out on tumblr under the username whindsor.

Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Honestly, I've got no excuse except that life is hard and so is writing. I hope y'all like the chapter, sorry for the long wait!

 **Chapter 4: Steam**

* * *

"Scott? Scott! Come in, Scott!"

Scott immediately snapped awake, the crackling sound of the walkie-talkie cutting into his dreams. The cold morning was just barely dawning, and his mind began whirring as he tried to organize everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours.

"Scott, are you there?" Stiles' voice was frantic. Scott wondered why he didn't just call his cell phone, but realized that its service had probably been turned off with this time line. He pulled the walkie-talkie out from underneath his bed.

"Yea, yea I'm here." he said into it.

"Oh, thank God." Stiles replied. Scott could hear the relief through the walkie. "So do you wanna open the door and explain why there's a burnt vampire corpse outside your house? Or perhaps why we can't open the door ourselves?"

"Yea, yea, be there in a second." Scott said, scrambling off the bed. He thundered down the stairs, jogging over to the front door. He paused, spotting Natalia sitting in a chair at the dining room table, staring at the front door with narrowed eyes. Veins of the same purple he saw the night before flew across her hands, as if her magic was buzzing right underneath her skin.

"There's someone out there." she said. Scott could tell she was trying to put up a front of strength, but there was a layer of fear underneath her voice.

"Yea, that's Stiles. And probably Lydia. They're friends." Scott explained. Natalia nodded, relaxing a bit as Scott went to the door. He grabbed the handle and pulled, but it stayed shut. He pulled again, but it still didn't move. He turned to Natalia. "Um, can you…"

"Oh, yea, right." she said, jumping up and going to the door. Her magic sparkled like amethyst along the bottom of the door, and his enhanced hearing allowed him to notice the soft _pop_ as the door was let free. Stiles must have heard it too, as he and Lydia barreled into the house moments after the spell was released. Natalia's hand flew up to protect her face, a loud smack echoing through the entryway as the door hit her arm and knocked her back. Scott took a step towards her, but was held back by Stiles, who also shoved Lydia behind him in a protective manner.

"Whoa, who the hell is this? And why is she dressed like she's straight out of _The Craft_?" he said, hooking his walkie talkie onto his back pocket. Natalia righted herself, slowly standing with her hands raised in surrender. Her hands were no longer glowing, but Scott could still feel the energy pulsing from her. She was defensive.

"This is Natalia. She's going to help us." he explained. It wasn't until Stiles had mentioned it that he realized she _was_ dressed oddly - her pants were made of a dark, leathery material, tucked into boots of a similar make. The fabric of what could only be described as a tunic looked inky against her pale skin. As she stood by Lydia, he realized how untamed her light brown hair looked, the waves billowing around her like a dust storm.

"We know everyone in this town, okay, and she is for sure not from here." Stiles said, already mistrustful of her.

"I know. She's from…" Scott paused. "Where are you from, exactly?"

"Czechoslovakia, actually." she said. Scott raised his eyebrows, surprised at the answer.

"Exactly. Far, far away from here, Scott. She has to go." Stiles said.

"She's the only one that can help us." Scott insisted.

"We don't need her help, okay? We got things under control." Stiles retorted.

"She was working with Selena, okay? She can help me set things right-"

"She was working with the witch? _She's_ a witch?! Did another coven move in-"

"Sorcerer." Natalia interrupted, her eyes boring into Stiles.

"Same thing." Stiles said scathingly.

"It is _not_." she said, her magic running close to the surface again. "Witches steal their magic but I was _born_ with it."

"Excuse me." Stiles said, sarcastically holding his hands up in a defensive manner.

"Okay, everyone shut up." Lydia interrupted, looking exasperated. "Stiles, Scott obviously trusts her for a reason."

"But you always trusted people too easily." Stiles pointed out. Scott smirked humorlessly.

"Not the first time you've told me that." he said.

"But remember, he has the same abilities you do now. He can tell when people lie. So maybe let's just chill out?" Lydia continued, eyeing Stiles.

"Absolutely not. We have been through way too much shit to just blindly trust a random witch-"

"Sorcerer." Natalia said, actually stomping her foot on the ground to emphasize her point.

"Same thing!" Stiles borderline yelled.

"It is _not_." Natalia retorted. This time, her hands were for sure glowing purple, and the energy in the room shifted. Stiles' eyes glowed gold, his fangs and claws appearing as he took one threatening step towards her. The anger in her face was replaced by fear, but she didn't move. Scott's hand shot out, pushing Stiles back away from the girl.

"What are you doing?" Stiles asked, turning to him.

"Diffusing the situation." Scott replied, pushing him further to put more distance between the two.

"Diffusing the - are you kidding me?" he said, pushing Scott's hand away. "Scott, how many times am I going to have to remind you that this isn't the Beacon Hills you know? Everything you knew is gone. Did you not notice the burned up vamp on your front lawn?"

"Yea, and guess who's the one who killed it?" Scott answered. Stiles was silent. "I'll give you a hint, it wasn't me."

Stiles paused, looking between Scott's insistent face and Natalia's nervous one. She certainly didn't look like a cold blooded killer, but then again, who did anymore? He looked over to Lydia, trying to read her thoughts through her expression. She raised her eyebrows, seemingly neutral over the situation. "Fine. Whatever. But let it be known that I don't like it."

"Duly noted." Lydia said. Natalia tried to keep up a calm facade, but her relief shone through her eyes. She still held herself stiffly, as if she were waiting for another outburst, but at least the sparks were gone from her hands. "So, you're going to help Scott change the past? Put everything back where it was?"

"Well, I-" Natalia started to answer, but Scott interrupted her.

"She is. She left her apprenticeship to help us." he said, not allowing Natalia to tell them that she didn't quite know the spell.

"Do it, then." Stiles said.

"What?" Natalia asked, her eyes wide like the first time Scott had seen her.

"Send him back in time. Let's get this thing sorted sooner rather than later, right?" he said in a challenging tone.

"That's not how-" Scott tried to cover, but Stiles wasn't having it.

"'That's not how it works'? Is that what you were going to say? Cause I'm pretty sure Hermione here just gave me a lecture about how she was _born_ with magic and all that so I'm pretty sure that is how it works." Stiles ranted. Scott bristled; Stiles had never seemed more like a stranger to him than in this moment. The room was silent, Stiles looking between Scott and Natalia with a questioning look on his face. Lydia's expression was stony, as if she weren't happy with the way Stiles was acting.

"Stiles-" the redhead began, her voice purposefully low and calm.

"I'll do it." Natalia said. Her face looked determined, but her hands were shaking ever so slightly.

"You don't have to." Scott said definitively. She didn't owe any of them anything - in fact, Scott kind of owed her his life. But no one was listening to him - Stiles was glaring at Natalia with an expectant look, and she was staring back with an equally defensive scowl.

"Back up." she said to Stiles and Lydia, wincing internally at the tremor in her voice. They followed her direction, Stiles subtly taking Lydia's hand and pulling her behind him. Natalia turned to Scott, taking a deep breath. "Don't move."

"Got it." he said. He stood as still as he could, looking at her. She met his eyes for a moment, but couldn't hold his gaze. She closed her eyes, focusing inward. Meditation had always been one of her weaker points - Selena had always chastised Natalia for her impatience - but it would be crucial for this spell to work. She pulled her focus away from the superficial layer of her being, tuning out the sound of Stiles shifting his weight nervously, the scent of Lydia's shampoo, and the heat radiating from Scott's close proximity. She went down another layer, brushing away the sounds of heartbeats and electric buzz of nerves and muscles. One more layer down, and she could feel the energy of her magic as it circulated through her. She felt the energy of the earth as it ebbed and flowed with its own rhythmic current. She felt the tingling of time and space as it danced around them. She hadn't needed to ask the date again from Scott; she remembered it from the first attempt. The strings of time circled her like a spider web, glistening in the amaranth. Scott's energy balanced in front her, glowing red like a planet in the expanse. She touched the string in front of her, delicately sliding her finger along it. The red planet followed her movement. She reached a point that felt different than the other points. It felt colder, more fragile. It must have been the point where Scott had changed the past. She pushed her magic towards the point, her hand buzzing and the red planet drawing closer to her. Darkness began slowly inching forward as her self-doubt crept in, clouding her thought process. The buzzing in her hand intensified, and her hand twitched just as she plucked the string.

Scott watched as the purple smoke floated in, the cold air pushing him into the dark. He was able to catch himself as he landed. He was still in his foyer, but all the lights were off. There was no sign of Stiles, Lydia, or Natalia. He felt elated - she had done it!

"Good job, Nat." he whispered, and started walking towards his front door. Without warning, the purple smoke surrounded him again, the warmth gathering around him as he panicked. He dropped back into his house, but this time Stiles and Lydia were there. Natalia was on the floor, out cold. Lydia was knelt next to her, checking for her pulse and her breathing.

"Did it work?" Stiles asked, unashamedly looking surprised.

"Kind of." Scott replied, bending now next to Nat as well. Stiles _hmphed_ , sitting down at the kitchen table and watching. Scott put a hand to Nat's cheek - her skin felt cold, but he could still hear the slow, steady beat of her heart. "What happened here?"

"You disappeared for a second, and then she just collapsed." Lydia explained, sitting back on her heels. "She'll be okay though, I think she just passed out. Here, help me get her on the couch." Lydia put her hands under Nat's shoulders and tried to lift her. However, as strong willed as Lydia was, it didn't discount the lack of heavy things she'd lifted in her life. Stiles and Scott stared at her struggle for a moment before she stopped, her green eyes flashing up to them.

"I, uh, got it." Scott said, Lydia's gaze making him feel nervous. He scooped Natalia's body into his arms, lifting her limp body and taking her over to the couch in the living room. She still showed no sign of rousing.

"Your water's off." Lydia said, following him in with an empty glass. "I think I might have an extra bottle in my bag, though."

"Check that, I'll see if she has any more in hers." Scott said. After making sure she looked comfortable on the couch, he went back to the other side of the house to find her back. The leather satchel was still sitting on the table, right where she had left it last night. He grabbed it, finding it to be much heavier than he thought it would be. However, when he went to open the bag, he found that the drawstring opening wouldn't budge. He gave it another experimental tug, to no avail.

"Having some trouble there?" Stiles asked, eyeing the satchel.

"Here, you try." Scott replied, tossing the bag to him. Stiles caught it, but was knocked off balance by the weight.

"What the hell does she have in here?" he asked rhetorically, giving the opening a pull. He had the same results as Scott.

"Is there a lock or something?" Scott asked, looking at all ends of the bag.

"She probably has it so only she can open it." Lydia pointed out, walking by them with a half-empty bottle of water in her hand. The boys followed her back to the couch, where Lydia sat by Nat, waiting for her to wake up.

"Quit mother-henning." Stiles said, tapping her shoulder as he and Scott perched on the fireplace across the room.

"She's going to be disoriented, and I'm the least threatening out of all of us." Lydia said shortly, not moving from her spot.

"Well her and her locked-up bag are definitely keeping secrets so come over here and keep a safe distance." he continued.

"Stiles." Lydia said shortly.

"What?" he asked, affronted. Lydia gave him a long look, but any response was interrupted by the girl on the couch beginning to stir. Scott immediately stood up, but he was pulled back down by Stiles.

"Really? You're gonna pull me back down but you're not gonna pull Lydia away?" Scott asked dully, his eyebrow raised.

"Usually you need more protection than she does." Stiles said nonchalantly. But Scott could see just a glint of gold underneath the brown of his eyes. Over and over Stiles was finding ways to remind Scott that he wasn't exactly the same guy he left behind in the other time. He turned back to the couch, watching as Natalia slowly came to. She let out a soft groan, her hands going to her eyes.

"It's so bright." she murmured, even though the only light available was the dim morning light through the dusty windows.

"Here, have some water." Lydia said softly, gently brushing some hair out of Natalia's face. The girl cringed at the light touch, seemingly in pain. Lydia pushed the bottle into her hand, repeating the request. Natalia sat up just enough that she could take a small sip, then pushed the bottle away and laid back down, covering her face with her arms. Scott could no longer feel the energy of her magic reaching from her. In fact, she seemed cold. Cold and in pain.

"I'll be right back." he said, jumping up and heading for the stairs. He didn't notice Natalia cringing with each _thud_ his footfalls made. He made quick work of the stair case, running to his old room and pulling open the medicine cabinet. He was met with the sight of empty shelves and chipping paint. He paused for a moment, turning and heading down the hall to his mother's room. He'd been avoiding going in to it for the past twelve hours, and was avoiding looking too closely at it now. He ducked his way into the bathroom, trying not to take up too much space in the room that used to belong to his mother. He was met with disappointment, as the shelves in her medicine cabinet were empty as well. He deflated, trudging back downstairs and back to the living room. Lydia and Stiles met him at the doorway.

"She's asleep now. I think she has a migraine." Lydia said softly.

"We don't have any pain medicine." Scott replied with a grimace.

"We can take her back to our place, and go from there." Stiles whispered. Scott hesitated.

"We can just stay here." he said, phrasing it as a suggestion. Stiles stiffened.

"I really think it would be better if you stayed with us." Stiles insisted.

"Stiles, I'm staying here. I'm staying at my home." Scott said. How could he explain that this house was the most familiar thing in this new world to him? That at times he couldn't even recognize his best friend, that even the air he breathed felt wrong to him.

"We'll talk to Derek about getting your house back on the grid." Lydia said.

"What?!" Stiles said loudly, earning glares from Lydia and Scott. He rolled his eyes, making his way out of the house and onto the porch. Once Lydia and Scott closed the door behind them, he turned to his girlfriend. "What is it with you and not being on my side today?"

"I'm playing the logical neutrality, the same way I do every time you're being irrational." Lydia said smartly, keeping a cool composure. Stiles flailed and made a few odd gestures to try and convey his frustration without words, and Lydia just watched with the same flat expression.

"Fine. Fine! Do whatever you want! Don't listen to Stiles! Stiles doesn't know anything!" he said, stalking towards the Jeep.

"Where are you going?" Scott asked.

"To go talk to Derek about getting your house back on the grid!" he said, slamming the driver side door for extra emphasis. Lydia sighed, putting her hand on Scott's shoulder.

"Don't worry, he'll come around." she said. "Now, come on. We need to go to the store."

"But I don't have any money." Scott said. "Actually, how do you two even have money?"

"Oh, we work. Sometimes just in less conventional ways." she said cryptically, walking off the front porch and onto the sidewalk. "Are you coming?"

"Hold on one second." Scott said, going back into the house. Natalia was still in the same place on the couch as she had been minutes ago. Her eyebrows were creased, and there were even small beads of sweat across them as she stayed in her fitful, painful sleep. Scott reached out and touched her hand, immediately met by the familiar burning sensation as her pain creeped into him. She must have been in agony, since he hadn't even been trying to take the pain away. He took a deep breath, readying himself before reaching for her hand again. Fire ripped through his body, following the trail of the black veins raising under his skin. He held on until the flames were just embers, and looked to see Natalia now sleeping peacefully.

"I'll be right back." he said. He didn't know if she heard him, but he figured it was the best he could do. He went back to the front door, closing it carefully behind him and following Lydia down the street to the corner store. He still couldn't shake the feeling that eyes were following them, that someone was keeping tabs on their every move. Did they know Natalia was there, defenseless? Would she still be there when they got back? The thought made him pick up his pace, Lydia almost having to jog to keep up with him. They turned the corner, crossing the empty parking lot to the small convenience store that had saved his young life more than a couple times in the other time. They opened the door to see the same scrawny blond kid that had worked the register before the time change; Scott wondered if he was a werewolf, or some other supernatural creature.

"Grab a few essentials. I'll cover you." Lydia said.

"Thanks, Lydia." he replied, giving her a small smile.

"I figure we can give you a little break. You know, since you're back from the dead and all." she replied, going to the next aisle over and grabbing a bottle of pain relievers.

"Death does tend to drain the bank account." he said, picking up the necessary components to make some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Lydia was across the store, searching through the gallons of milk to find one with the latest expiration date. Scott added a large box of cereal to his haul, hoping that there were still some bowls and spoons in the house. He saw the top of Lydia's head bobbing through the aisles as she picked up a couple more things for him before heading up to the front. He went to follow her, but paused. The rack that caught his eye wasn't particularly special, but the light blue "Swiss Miss" box seemed to jump out at him. A few vague memories flipped through his mind, of his mom placing a steaming cup of hot chocolate in front of him whenever things were rough. Even when they were living paycheck to paycheck, it was always a simple delicacy that they could enjoy. Without another thought, he grabbed the box, going up to the checkout counter with Lydia. If the guy behind the register recognized him or was surprised at their load, he didn't show it. Instead, he rang the items up with such an intense apathy that Scott wondered if he was mentally present at all. Lydia, unbothered by the kid's odd appearance, simply swiped her card in the machine and turned to go, leaving the bags for Scott. He slid the loops over his hands, hurrying to catch up with his friend.

"What's up with that guy?" he asked. Lydia hesitated, her pace quick and choppy as they made their way back to his house.

"There used to be another banshee." she said. "But she couldn't control her powers."

"Meredith?" he asked.

"Anyone who was close around her before she died...well, they ended up like that." she said shortly. By her tone of voice, Scott knew that would be the end of the conversation. They walked in silence after that, their shoes on the pavement the only sound echoing through the empty street. There were no birds, no wildlife of any sort. Beacon Hills was pretty much a dead zone.

Scott was nervous walking back up to the house. He let his powers show, scanning the area for any sign of visitors. But there were no heat signatures, no distant scents. The house seemed just as abandoned as before. They pushed the door open, going into the kitchen. Out of habit, Scott flipped on the light, and was surprised to find it actually flicker to life. Lydia's phone buzzed in her pocket; she took it out and read the message with a grin.

"Stiles says you're back on the grid." she said ruefully.

"Good, I'd hate for the milk to spoil." Scott replied, putting the bags down on the counter and unloading them into the pantry and fridge. The kitchen was relatively clean, save for the thin layer of dust that was covering most of the house. He grabbed the bottle of pain relievers and a bottle of water, sticking the smaller in his pocket.

"You got it from here?" Lydia asked. Scott could hear the Jeep pull up in front of the house.

"Yea, go do whatever you and Stiles need to do. I'll be here." Scott said.

"Good. Keep your walkie talkie on you." she grinned. She gave him a quick hug before heading out the front door, her steps fading until she got to the Jeep. Scott walked out of the kitchen, slowly turning to go to the living room. He was anxious as to what he would find.

His anxiety was unfounded. Natalia was still asleep on the couch, her dark hair spilling across her face. He gently kneeled next to the couch, careful to keep a respectable distance between the two of them.

"Nat, hey. Wake up." he said quietly, putting a hand on her shoulder. She stirred, letting out a groan.

"My head." she whispered.

"I have some medicine for you. Think you can sit up?" he murmured. She gave a tiny sound of affirmation, slowly pushing her way into a sitting position. She hugged herself tightly, her head hanging down.

"What herbs is it?" she asked quietly.

"Um...ibuprofen?" Scott said, confused. Had she never had medicine before? Nat seemed unfazed, trusting him as he put two pills in her hand. He gave her the bottle of water, and watched awkwardly as she put the pills in her mouth, biting down on them.

"These herbs are disgusting." she said, her face contorting in disgust.

"Yea, you're supposed to just swallow them." Scott replied, trying not to be alarmed. She opened the bottle of water, taking a few experimental gulps. After those seemed to settle alright, she guzzled the rest of the bottle as if she'd been walking through the desert.

"Thank you. Can you hand me my bag?" she asked, pointing to where her satchel still sat across the room. Scott jumped up, picking the bag up and giving it to her. It opened with ease, and she reached her whole arm into it. Once again, Scott tried not to be shocked, especially when she pulled out a full cloak from the depths of the bag.

"I have just the thing." Scott said as she pulled the cloak around her shoulders. He went back to the kitchen, breaking the seal on the Swiss Miss box and pulling out two packages. He made quick work of the water, thankful that there were both cups and a functioning microwave still in the house. After the mixture had dissolved, Scott went back to the living room, handing one of the mugs to Natalia.

"What is this?" she asked, giving it a sniff. Her eyebrows raised at the sweet scent.

"Hot chocolate." Scott said, confused. Hadn't she had hot chocolate before?

"Chocolate?" she asked, her doe eyes looking at him in wonder. The word, which seemed so commonplace to him, sounded almost foreign coming from her.

"Yea. You've never had chocolate?" he questioned. She shook her head, blowing away the steam coming off the cup. Once she was satisfied with the temperature, she took an experimental sip.

The way she looked at Scott, he would have thought he had just shown her the face of God. "This is amazing!" she said, taking another large gulp, then grimacing as her mouth was burned.

"It's pretty good, yea." he said, laughing. She took another drink, smacking her lips and relishing the sweet treat. Scott noticed the purple flow of her magic just underneath her skin, and could feel the warmth as her energy returned.

"How did you come by this magical concoction?" she asked, and Scott had the feeling that she literally meant it when she said _magical_.

"It's uh, pretty common actually." he answered, taking a sip of his own mug. The warmth filled him from the inside out, and he could almost hear his mom telling him how everything was going to be okay.

"It's wonderful. Thank you, Scott." she said, her mug never going far from her lips. Scott smiled, this time feeling warm for a different reason. He'd forgotten what it was like, helping someone. Well, successfully helping someone. But the happiness in Nat's eyes and the positive energy radiating from her made him believe that maybe, just maybe, things could be looking up.

* * *

Alright! We've got a little more established, getting a little crazy!

A huge thank you to CarlyLynn, Shadow-wolf78, JackieOh, Guest, and BetterYouDieThanI for your wonderful reviews! I am so incredibly grateful for them, and you are all amazing!

Please feel free to leave some comments, and let me know what you think!

-XM


	5. Chapter 5

Hello all! Sorry for the wait, but hey, at least it was less than a half a year! I'm hoping to be writing more often lately now that my schedule has kind of mellowed out. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter!

 **Chapter 5: Adrenaline**

Things were not looking up.

In the four days since Scott had "risen from the dead," things had gone from bad to worse to abysmal. He thought the news about his resurrection had spread quickly, but he was the tortoise to Natalia's hare. Whispers of a magic-wielder slithered through the streets, soaking into the darkest corners of the town. Initially he thought it was Stiles who let the secret out, but in actuality it was the vampires who had ignited talk of a girl who spat fire and slaughtered her enemies with a look.

And that was why Derek was on Scott's porch at dawn, slamming his fist into the front door. Scott stumbled out of his room and down the stairs, clad in his boxers and claws. Natalia slipped out of the downstairs guest room, purple flames licking her hands as she stood ready for a fight. Scott looked through the peephole, his brow furrowing as he saw Derek standing there.

"What?" he asked, swinging the door open. Derek didn't look at him, instead pushing past him to look at Natalia.

"So the rumor is true." he said.

"What rumor?" Scott asked. Natalia gripped her hands, the flames disappearing. Scott could still feel the energy of her magic, held close to the surface in case she needed to call on it. In the back of his mind, he wondered if Derek could feel it too.

"This is exactly what we need." Derek said, finally turning to look at Scott.

"She's not a 'this', she's a person. And you do not need her for anything." Scott said adamantly.

"Don't you see? This is how we win. This is how we beat Deucalion." Derek insisted. He turned to Natalia, taking a step toward her. She immediately took a step back.

"Derek, don't-" Scott tried to stop him.

"You have to help us. This guy is the reason everything's screwed up. He takes everything good and destroys it. He's evil incarnate." Derek ignored Scott, taking another large step towards Natalia. She didn't back up this time, instead looking at him with eyes that glowed.

"You have not seen evil." she said. "I am not a pawn in this war. I am loyal only to the Earth Mother and the True Alpha."

"I am the Alpha." Derek said, grabbing her wrist.

"Not my Alpha." Natalia said. Scott felt a spike in her energy, and soon Derek snapped his hand back, shaking it as if it hurt. The heavy stench of burnt flesh reached Scott's nose as Derek stalked towards the front door.

"I may not be your Alpha, but neither is Deucalion." Derek said lowly, grabbing the door with his uninjured hand. "And what Deucalion can't take, he kills. So you may want to rethink your position."

They both flinched as the door slammed shut behind him. Scott tried to slow his heart rate, composing himself before turning back to Natalia. She was staring at him, her eyes wide. Scott could still feel her magic pulsing around them, as if she were trying to form a shield. He suddenly became acutely aware that he was not wearing pants.

"I'm, um, gonna get dressed." he said. She nodded, trying her best not to let the seed of fear take root in her gut.

"That would probably be wise." she responded. Scott ducked his head, taking the first few steps of the staircase before stopping, turning back to Natalia.

"We're gonna figure this out, Nat." he said sincerely. Natalia cocked her head to the side.

"What did you call me?" she asked. There was no malice in her voice, but that didn't stop Scott's heart from stopping.

"Uh, Nat?" he said. It sounded like a question, even though he meant to say it as a statement. "I mean, if that's okay with you? I know I hate it when Stiles calls me Scottie but he never listens-"

"Nat is fine." she said, a large grin painted across her face. "I've just never had a nickname before."

Scott's heart stopped again. "Well, you do now." he said, turning and going upstairs before he spent any more time in just his boxers.

He dug through his clothes, trying to find anything that might fit him. With no werewolf bite in the other time line, he didn't develop any super strong werewolf muscles that required bigger clothing. Luckily his mother often bought things a little big, not knowing exactly when or how much her son would grow. He went back downstairs, finding Nat in the kitchen staring at the Swiss Miss box. A moment later she put the box down, plucking a package of mix from it. A flick of her wrist formed a small flame on her palm. Scott quickly put her thought process together and lunged forward, grabbing her wrist holding the packet. She immediately snuffed out the flame in her palm, turning to him.

"That's, uh, not how you make it." he said.

"Oh. How do you make it then?" she asked.

"In the microwave." he replied. Figuring she wouldn't know how to work a microwave, he didn't spare a glance at her confused face, instead reaching into the cabinet for a cup. He filled it with water, then dumped in the chocolate powder. He showed her how to open the microwave, putting the cup in and pressing the "2" button once the door was closed. Nat was startled by the beeping at first, but was soon watching the cup as it turned slowly. He put his hands on her arms, pulling her back so that her face wasn't so close to the machine.

"I always wondered how everyone else did it." she said.

"You've really never seen any of this stuff?" he asked. She shook her head.

"She kept me very secluded. She always said that adapting to civilization would weaken my bond to the Earth." she said quietly, still watching the cup make its circles. Her brows furrowed. "But every other creature has survived just fine."

"Did you ever try to leave her? Before now, I mean?" Scott asked. Neither one wished to speak the name of the woman who had been master over Nat. It felt like it would make her a threat again.

"I thought about it, but it never seemed possible. I went along with everything because I feared what would happen if I didn't." she said. Scott put his hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture.

"Well, you're safe now." he said as the microwave beeped. Nat's eyes lit up in excitement as she realized that meant her hot chocolate was ready. She reached in and took the cup, seemingly unbothered by its high temperature. She held it close to her, looking so childishly happy that Scott couldn't believe this girl had burned a man alive just a few days before.

"Thank you!" she said, turning and going to the front door.

"No, wait-" Scott tried to stop her, not knowing what they might face from the world outside. She didn't heed him, instead walking out on the front porch and sitting down on the edge of it. Scott stood next to her, his spine tingling as he surveyed the area around them. The sun was just barely beginning to filter through the trees, bathing the world in the dusty morning glow. After the intrusive visit from Derek, Scott thought they would walk out to see turmoil. Instead, everything was quiet. He watched as Nat poured a bit of hot chocolate onto the soil below her before bringing the cup to her lips. The steam curled away from the mug in the cool morning air, but she took a sip with no mind to the heat.

"We really should go inside." Scott said quietly after a moment. She looked so peaceful in the early morning light that he hated to disturb her, but it wasn't safe. He would feel better if there was a barrier between them and the outside world. Something to shield them.

"Not yet. The sun's almost over the trees." she said. He could hear her take a sip of her drink; he was still too preoccupied watching the perimeter for imminent threats to keep an eye on her.

"I'm worried Deucalion is gonna show up. We need to call Stiles and Lydia and figure this all out." he said, trying not to show how anxious he was feeling. He finally looked to her and saw she wasn't paying any attention to the area around them. Her face was tilted towards the sunlight, as if she were trying to soak up its energy. Her eyes were on the ground though, watching a small white flower open up. Once again he noticed how out of place her clothing was, and made a mental note to find her some new ones. He also wondered how she could only be focused on the sunrise whenever there was danger lurking in the distance.

Soon the sun started clearing the treetops, bathing the front yard in gold. Nat's hair and eyes were shimmering in the sunlight, and once again Scott could feel her power radiating from her. But it didn't feel the same as the wolves' power; Derek's and Deucalion's were dark and heavy, they gave the sense that you were drowning. Nat's was different. Hers felt warm and alive and strong, just like the sun that was now hanging proudly above the trees.

"Okay, I'm ready now." she said, climbing to her feet. Scott picked up her empty cup for her, opening the front door and ushering her inside. He dropped the cup in the sink before grabbing the burner phone Lydia and Stiles had gotten for him, quickly dialing Stiles' number.

"We have a problem." he said to Stiles by way of greeting.

"We've got lots of problems, dude." Stiles deadpanned.

"Okay fine, we have _another_ problem." Scott retorted. "Derek is after Nat to take down Deucalion. Which means Deucalion will probably be after her soon to kill her."

"Let 'em have her." Stiles said, as if it were the obvious answer. Scott bristled, but was briefly comforted by the _smack_ he heard as Lydia slapped Stiles' arm.

"We're not going to just let them have her." he replied shortly. Stiles made a noise of disagreement, but didn't vocalize anything. "Stiles, we're not."

"Fine fine we're not gonna let them have her I get it." he said, exasperated. "Look, just come over here and we'll get it all figured out. Or try to at least."

"Okay." Scott said, hanging up and turning to Nat. "Grab your bag, we're gonna head over to Stiles and Lydia's." he said. She nodded, going back into the guest room to get her things. Scott looked over at the table by the front door out of habit, and was surprised to see the keys to his motorbike still there. He furrowed his brow, going and grabbing them out of the basket. They were covered in dust, but still the same as they were in the other time. Nat walked back into the room, her boots barely making any noise on the wood floor.

"Ready?" she asked, slinging her bag on her shoulder.

"Maybe." Scott said, still thinking and holding the keys. "Let's check something first."

"Um, alright." Nat said, a little confused at his statement. She followed him out to the garage, helping him push open the rusty door. The garage was completely empty, except for a large object in the back covered in a tarp. Scott pulled the tarp off, holding his breath. Sure enough, his bike was underneath it, looking perfect and familiar. He pulled the helmet out of the side bag, handing it to Nat.

"Put this on." he said. She looked at him quizzically, but slipped the helmet on nonetheless.

"What is this?" she asked, her voice muffled by the helmet. Once again he was reminded how sheltered Selena had kept her.

"Our ride." he said.

"Is there one for you too?" she asked, tapping the helmet.

"Yea, it's-" he stopped, looking to the blank spot on the shelf where he normally kept the other helmet. He quickly did the math - if he had died in this time, then obviously he wouldn't have been around to date Kira. No Kira, no second helmet. "I'll be fine just this once." he said instead. Without thinking too much about it, he threw one leg over the bike, kicking up the stand. He turned the key, the bike taking a couple tries before stuttering to life. Nat's eyes were wide behind the visor of the helmet, and she hadn't moved towards the bike at all.

"I don't know about this." she yelled over the rumble of the engine.

"You'll be okay, just trust me." Scott yelled back with a smile. For some reason, it amused him how she was with all these new things she'd never seen. She eyed him, the look less threatening due to her cheeks being pushed by the helmet. He held out his hand. With a definitive nod, she took it, following his motion and swinging her leg over. He gave her a minute to get settled before pointing out the foot rests, giving her a thumbs up after she put her feet in the right spots. Her hands delicately grasped the back of his flannel. He walked the bike to the front of the garage, not bothering with the door - what was anyone going to steal from him?

He pushed the throttle, Nat immediately circling her arms around his waist at the movement. He grinned, pushing the speed a little bit more once they got onto the road. He couldn't hear her heart beat due to the wind, but he could feel her pulse in her arms, especially when it jumped at every turn and move.

They were halfway to Stiles' house when Scott noticed how utterly empty the streets were. He knew people mostly kept to themselves now, but he figured he'd see someone - anyone - milling about the town. The sun was shining proudly in the sky, but dark rain clouds were building behind them. Scott gunned it a little more, not liking the feel in the air. He began ignoring stop signs, just trying to get to Stiles' house as fast possible. He wondered if Nat could feel his heart beat as well - the pace was beginning to match hers.

He let out a deep breath as the final turn appeared. But as he made that turn onto Stiles' street, he was forced to skid to a stop.

Deucalion and all his alphas were standing in the street, effectively blocking his path. Scott almost let out a laugh at the absurdity of the situation; he thought things like this only happened on crappy dramatic TV shows. But there stood the Demon Wolf, a satisfied grin on his face.

"You have a lot of secrets, Scott McCall." he said, his voice just loud enough to be heard over the sound of the bike.

"Apparently not enough." Scott said back. He could feel his blood pulsing, his muscles tightening as his fight or flight response kicked in.

"I'm not here to bargain. Give me the girl, and we'll leave you alone." he said, gesturing towards Nat with his cane. Nat gripped his shirt harder, whether out of fear or defiance Scott couldn't tell.

Fight or flight?

"Not gonna happen." he responded. Thunder rumbled behind them, the street going dark as the storm blotted out the sun. There were six of the alphas, against the two of them.

"You can't win here, boy. Hand over the witch, and I'll forget all about your miraculous return." Deucalion offered. Nat was suddenly very still, and Scott knew that any fear she had was slowly being overtaken by anger.

 _Fight or flight?_

"I think I'll take my chances." Scott said, his claws lengthening and his fangs pushing through. He noticed a purple glow coming from Nat's hands, her magic flowing just beneath the skin, begging to be released.

"You won't live to regret it." he growled, signalling with his hand. His pack jumped into action, sprinting towards the two of them.

Flight.

"Hold on!" Scott said, holding Nat's hands to his stomach as he whipped the bike around. Without waiting for confirmation, he slammed the gas. The bike leapt into action, his breath almost going out of him as she held on to him. If they could make it back to the house, they would be okay. If they could make it back to his house, they would be safe.

A steady pounding sound reached his ears, lengthened in his heightened state. He glanced in the mirror to see one of the alphas gaining on him - he didn't have the capacity to remember his name at that moment. He felt Nat's knees gripping him as she let go of his waist with one hand. A blast of purple shot out, slamming into the wolf's chest and sending him flying. She grabbed onto him again as he made a sharp turn, taking a different route back to his house than usual. The smell of burning rubber drifted to his sensitivity nose, but he ignored it and pushed the bike harder.

Too little too late, the rubber scent faded and another scent invaded. Kali leapt from the bushes, claws bared and fangs shining. Scott hoped they could get around her, but there was no way the bike was as agile as her. Once again Nat let go, pushing her hand towards Kali and throwing a vibrant purple blast at her. Kali partially dodged it, but was quickly able to regain her footing. The engine roared as he punched the throttle, angling away from the wolf as they passed her. She reached out and hand and tried to grab Nat, her claws sinking into her arm. Nat gave a cry of surprise at the pain, yanking her arm back and pulling on Scott. It was hard for him to maintain the balance of the bike, the movement forcing him to put his foot down for a second and right it. Her arms were around him again with the sudden jerk, but her right one wasn't holding on as tight. A minute later, and he could feel her blood soaking through his shirt.

Scott turned off the road, onto the back trail that would lead to his house. Two more alphas showed up, running on either side of them. He felt Nat take a deep breath before she let go with both hands, her legs holding on mercilessly. He tried to keep the bike as steady as possible over the rough terrain, which was difficult since he could feel her magic pulsing around them. Suddenly the path became darker as thick branches grew and twisted around the trail, closing off access to it from the surrounding trees. One of the alphas tried to jump over the tree wall, but was slapped aside by a wayward branch. Although, by the way Nat's hands were moving, the branch was very purposeful.

Scott cut through a break in the trees, the bike rattling as it passed over the forest floor. Nat was leaning against his back, her hands barely holding on to him. He prayed to whatever deity was listening that she was still conscious enough to bar the door like she had before. He skid to a halt at the back door, roughly wrenching the keys from the ignition. He grabbed Nat's hand, almost dragging her to the door with him.

"You're gonna have to do that thing again, okay? And super fast, cause we have to get both doors. And the windows." he said. He had no idea what volume he was operating at, and wondered if he'd yelled.

"Got it." Nat answered. She sounded exhausted, but she was still standing on her own. He pushed the key into the lock, shoving the door open and pulling her inside. As soon as he closed the door she dropped to her knees, placing her hands on the floor. She didn't make the sweeping motion she did the first time. Instead, Scott watched as purple energy spider webbed its way around the house, spreading across the floor and up the walls. He watched in awe as it spread to cover the entire house, soft purple embers flickering in the grains of the wood and the shadows in the plaster. She sank back onto her backside, her breath labored and uneven. Scott knelt in front of her, brushing away the hair clinging to the sweat on her face and taking her cheeks in his hands. Her skin was clammy, cold. She looked like she was ready to pass out.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly, looking at her arm. The bleeding had stopped; it seemed the gashes weren't as deep as he thought. She nodded.

"I'm tired." she whispered.

"You were amazing." Scott said, not bothering to hide his smile or how impressed he was. She smiled in a way that made Scott wonder how often she heard compliments.

"Thank you." she said, leaning her head into his hands. Scott could hear footsteps around the house, circling them. But he ignored the sounds.

"Let's get you some rest." he said, standing up. He offered her his hand to help her up, but her knees gave out before she could fully stand. He effortlessly scooped her up, taking her down the hall to the guest bedroom. The bed was still fully made; he wondered if she'd slept at all last night. By the time he laid her down, she was already dozing in between sleeping and waking. He pulled the blanket over her, then went to grab the first aid kit from under the kitchen sink. She seemed to be asleep as he gently cleaned the cuts on her arm, her breaths deep and slow. He put her arm back under the covers, not wanting to disturb her more. He then went to the kitchen table and sat, waiting diligently for her to awaken.

Scott kept tabs on her with his hearing, listening for any shift in the mattress, any change in her breathing. She was silent and still for most of the time, which meant he could also keep tabs on the people outside his house. He heard every step they took, every comment they whispered, every swear of frustration that was let out. Occasionally they would step closer to the house, but the protection spell was doing something that would send them back, with more swearing and grumbling.

Just as the sun was beginning to set, he heard rustling from the bedroom. He jumped up, grabbing some water and Advil from the kitchen before going to stand in the doorway of the guest room. Nat was sitting up in the bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She spotted Scott standing there, and her eyes immediately snapped wide open.

"Everything okay?" she asked, pulling the covers off of herself.

"Yea, yea we're still good. Whatever you put up, it's keeping them out." he said, handing her the water and the Advil. He noticed this time she swallowed the pills instead of chewing them.

"Good." she said with a look that made it seemed like she was trying to hide her surprise. Scott shifted his weight back and forth, trying to muster the courage to continue the conversation.

"Hey, Nat?" he asked.

"Yea?" she asked. Suddenly, Scott noticed how tired she still looked. He couldn't feel her energy, couldn't sense the strength from her magic. He realized that he had just been staring at her for an awkward amount of time, and cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Uh, hold that thought." he said. He went back into the kitchen, coming back a couple minutes later with the biggest mug he could find, filled with hot chocolate.

"What's this for?" she asked, accepting it with cold hands.

"As a thank you, for saving me today." he said. He looked at his hands, trying to steele his courage. "And also, I have to ask a favor."

"I'll do my best." she said optimistically, taking a sip of the hot drink. Maybe he was imagining it, but it seemed like some color went back in her cheeks.

"I need you to try the time travel spell again." he said slowly. She paused, moving her mug from her mouth to her lap.

"Scott, I don't know." she said hesitantly. "I used a lot of magic today, and it didn't exactly go well last time."

"I know, I know, and I hate to ask you again so soon." he said, sitting down across from her on the bed. "But this situation...Nat, if we walk out that door, they're going to try and kill you."

"They wouldn't be able to. I've had to tussle with lots of angry creatures before, it's always ended up in my favor." she said.

"Can you save yourself and me? Cause six on two are not good odds." he said.

"Not a problem. As long as you don't stray too far from me I should be able to protect you."

"And what if I stray too far? What if more wolves come and all of a sudden it's eight against two? Or ten? What then?" he asked.

"Then we try harder." she said. Her voice was wavering, but Scott wasn't sure what emotion she was trying to hide.

"Nat, we can't just run the rest of our lives. Or worse, hide in here." he said softly.

"Yes we can." she said childishly.

"Nat." he said seriously, in a tone that his mother would be proud of. She let out a sigh.

"What if I'm not strong enough?" she asked.

"Of course you are." he said, feeling like their roles had reversed.

"I couldn't do it last time, and I'm afraid to try again. What if something happens? What if you get stuck in the wrong time, or worse yet _erased_ from time? I'd rather take on the wolves. I'm strong enough to take on the wolves. I don't think I'm strong enough to try the time travel again." she rambled. Her eyes fell to her lap, watching the foamy bubbles in her drink drift. Scott looked around his room, trying to find his words. He caught sight of the old pile of movies in the corner, films that he hadn't seen in years. For some reason, _Space Jam_ stuck out to him. He had an idea.

"Well this time you have something you didn't have before." he said, tapping the mug of hot chocolate. He was playing a gamble, he knew, but there was a chance it might work.

"Chocolate?" she asked.

"You said it yourself, it's magical. And I put double the magic in this cup." he said. It wasn't exactly a lie - he _had_ used two packages to make this cup for her. Her brows furrowed in thought.

"It does make me feel better." she said hesitantly.

"It certainly makes your magic feel stronger." he responded with a smile. She cocked her head to the side.

"You can feel my magic?" she asked. He saw the opportunity.

"Only when it's really strong. Which, it's getting there." he said, tapping the cup again. She took a deep breath, then drained the cup. Whether from the chocolate or from increased confidence, Scott really could feel her magic grow stronger.

"Okay. Let's try it." she said. He grinned.

"I believe in you." he said, standing up. She nodded her thanks, but looked quite nervous. She fiddled with the mug for a moment before setting it aside, turning to Scott. She stood up, facing him.

"Okay. Okay, I can do this." she said, shaking her hands. She seemed much more nervous than the first time.

"You can do this." Scott said, gently laying a hand on her shoulder. She nodded again, taking a deep breath.

Once again she let herself relax, going down through the different layers of the universe around her until she was once again in the web of time. The red glow of Scott's essence hung in front of her, the only steady glow in the sparkling lines of time. Once again she found the line of time in front of her, and the weak point where it was altered. She took another deep breath, this time squashing her nerves down. She could do this. She _had_ to do this.

She drew Scott's energy towards the point, surprised to see two strings splitting off the one point. She chose not to think too hard about it, instead focusing on the energy and the point. This time, instead of fighting the vibration going through her hand, she relaxed, letting the movement flow through her. This time it was easier to push Scott in the right direction, to the right moment.

As the purple smoke cleared, Scott found himself in the guest room. But it was the guest room in another time. He stood still for a moment, waiting to see if the spell stuck. A count to one hundred later, and he was still there.

"Thatta girl." he whispered with a grin. He moved out of the room, sneaking up the stairs to his bedroom. He could hear his mom in the kitchen, humming while she made her coffee for her night shift. He looked around his room, taking in everything and how it used to be two years prior. Before any of this had happened.

To run all the way across town and through the preserve to stop the tree falling in Stiles' path would take too long. Trying to track down Peter in an hour was too risky.

"Mom, I'm home!" he heard himself come in the front door downstairs. He panicked for a moment, trying to figure out where to hide. He could hear himself talking to his mom downstairs, figuring out their plans for the evening. There was no way he could make it out of the room, not without being spotted. He eased himself to the floor, rolling underneath the bed. A few minutes later, he heard feet pounding up the stairs. Past Scott bowled into the room, dropping his backpack and his lacrosse stuff all over the floor. He was singing some song that he hadn't heard in years it seemed, trying to get stuff together. Scott was running through different scenarios in his mind, trying to decide his best course of action.

He heard his Past Scott collapse into his computer chair, booting up his computer. Scott hoped he hadn't been sent back too early; it would be a complete waste to just hide underneath his bed for his hour back in time. Luckily, after 18 chilling minutes, he heard him get up from the computer chair. After a few minutes of rummaging, there was a soft _thump_ from above him, and then the sound of the shower cutting on and the door closing.

The phone.

As long as he moved the phone far enough away from the window, then the Other Past Scott wouldn't be able to sabotage it. He would still go to meet Stiles, and still get bitten by Peter, and reset the timeline back where it should be. Maybe there would be a few differences, but overall it should lead to a seamless transition.

He started to move from underneath the bed, but stopped as the bathroom door opened again. Past Scott took a quick lap through the room to grab something, while Current Scott held his breath and his position as if he were set in stone. When Past Scott returned to the bathroom, Scott waited until he heard him get into the shower before making a move.

Sure enough, when he slid out from under the bed, he spotted the phone on the pillow. He quickly grabbed it, moving it to the foot of the bed - far out of reach from the window. For good measure, he shut the window and locked it, even though that would seem weird to his past self. He checked his watch - he still had twenty-eight minutes left. Twenty-eight possible moments for someone to see him when they weren't supposed to. He tip-toed out of his room, careful to shut the door behind him silently. He walked carefully down the hallway, making his steps as silent as possible. He went into his mom's room, once again not looking closely at anything in it, and going straight for the window on the other side.

The night was quiet and dark, giving Scott the perfect cover as he stepped out of the window and onto the roof. The window squeaked a bit as he closed it, but his mom and past self didn't have any response to it - at least any one that he could hear. He jumped from the roof, sprinting to the cover of the woods beyond the backyard. His mind whirred with all the things he could do with his remaining twenty-six minutes. Did he dare go into town, try and see Allison? Or should he go to the Hale house, and see if there was a way to help Derek? Maybe the Sheriff's station, to warn Stiles' dad of everything to come?

In the end, he sat in the trees. Even though he could think of _so many things_ to try and accomplish, he remembered Selena's words as they burned through his memory - time travel was messy. He had already screwed things up once, he didn't need to screw it up any more.

Right on time, purple smoke flooded around him. He felt the now familiar warmth pulling him back, hurtling him through time and space. He was ready for the drop, landing easily on his feet back in the guest room. Nat was sitting on the bed, looking very exhausted but also very much conscious.

"You did it!" he exclaimed, picking her up and spinning her around. She gripped his shoulders tightly, surprised by his demonstration. He quickly set her down, feeling guilty about invading her personal space. "I'm sorry, I just got excited."

"Excited about what?" came another female voice. Scott turned to see his mom, still in scrubs and holding her purse and keys, standing in the doorway. She looked very confused at the scene in front of her. Scott didn't care though, he was just elated to see his mother's face at all.

"Just, uh, glad to see you're home safe." he said, trying to not seem weirdly excited about his mom's presence. He crossed the room in a few long steps, pulling her into a hug as well. "Missed you, Mom."

"How much do you want?" she asked sarcastically, though she hugged him back tightly.

"Nothing. Just love you is all." he said, stepping back away from her.

"A likely story." she said. She looked past him, making eye contact with Nat. "Are you going to introduce me to your friend here, or just let her awkwardly endure this moment?"

"Oh, uh, Mom, this is my friend Natalia. Nat, this is my mom." he said.

"Nice to meet you, Natalia." Melissa said.

"Likewise." Nat responded, though she seemed very nervous. Melissa gave her a reassuring smile before grabbing Scott's sleeve.

"I need to borrow you for a moment." she said. There was a smile on her face, but her eyes said he was in trouble.

"Okay, sure." Scott said, following her into the hallway after giving Nat another thumbs up.

"Okay, son. Are you going to tell me why you have a pretty girl dressed for a renaissance festival in our guest bedroom? And reassure me that it has nothing to do with why the sheets are all messed up?" she asked sternly.

"What? Oh, no no no it's nothing like that." Scott said. "She, ah, she's just a friend of mine. A new friend."

"A new...werewolf friend?" Melissa asked, her voice one notch lower than a whisper. Scott tried to hide his shock - so there were still werewolves, and his mother knew about them.

"Um, kind of. She's not a wolf, but she's got powers." he explained. A thought occurred to him. "Actually, she might kind of need a place to stay. The woman who she was with...well, she's not with her anymore. She could really use a safe spot to lay low."

"Well, everyone is welcome at Melissa McCall's Home for Misfit Supernatural Creatures." she said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Mom, seriously." Scott said. Melissa sighed.

"Of course she can stay. But if I get even an inkling that there's any funny business, you are grounded until next millennium. Understood?" she said, trying to stay solid.

"Understood." Scott said sternly. Melissa looked at him for another moment before pushing past him, back to the guest room.

"Natalia, sweetie, are you hungry? I just finished setting up some food before I go in to work." she said, putting an arm around Nat's shoulder's and leading her to the kitchen. Nat looked relieved at her motherly tendencies; Scott didn't know how much of the conversation she could hear, but he definitely could tell that she was happy with Melissa's response. "You two need to eat up, Stiles and Grace are going to be here any minute."

"Stiles and who?" Scott asked, just as the front door pushed open. Stiles stumbled through, followed by a girl who looked oddly similar to him. They were bickering like family - siblings, even.

"Grace, for the last time, Nancy should have ended up with Jonathan." Stiles said.

"Absolutely not. Steve is her man, Jon is her bro. End of story." The girl, Grace, stuck her tongue out at him. Stiles rolled his eyes.

"Scott, please tell Grace...what are you wearing?" he asked, shocked at Scott's apparently odd wardrobe. He spotted Nat next to him, her mouth full of Hamburger Helper. "What is _she_ wearing? Wait, who _are_ you?"

"I'm gonna need a minute with you." Scott said, pulling Stiles back onto the front porch. Stiles, doing his part, looked equally confused and intrigued.

"Start talking, Scottie."

Whew! Time travel part two! Let's see how things are changed up this time, huh?

 **:** Here it is, continued! Hope you liked it!

 **JackieOh:** So this chapter answered exactly NONE OF YOUR QUESTIONS but you know I'm always down to chat about this soooooo hope you liked the new update!

 **Shadow-wolf78:** Here you go! Hope you liked it! :D

Please take a moment to review and let me know what you think! And if you need more feelings, come hang out with me on tumblr under the username whindsor!


	6. Chapter 6

Blah blah blah sorry I haven't updated in forever blah blah blah.

Every one of you who read/reviewed/favorited is amazing! Thank you thank you thank you for your support!

 **Chapter 6: Jet Fuel**

* * *

Scott wasn't sure where to begin.

Stiles was looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to give an explanation for whatever weird thing was going on this time. Scott started to explain about three different times before stopping, deciding to take a different approach.

"Say I had amnesia and forgot the last two years. What happened?" he asked. Stiles narrowed his eyes.

"Are you high or something?" he asked. "Cause I'm the only one allowed to break into Derek's stash, okay, one of us has to be moral around here."

"What?" Scott asked, genuinely confused. He shook his head, clearing it of the new batch of questions that had cropped up. "Nevermind, we'll come back to that. Spark Notes from the last two years, please?"

"Well, there was that time that you and I got bitten by a rabid Peter Hale, who died and came back to life and also was later found to be the root cause of a dead pool where hunters were offered a lot of money to kill us...uh, Jackson turned into a lizard man and then hopped the pond for some reason I can't remember...there was a brief stint in Mexico...listen, I don't think there's a good way to summarize everything. Scott, what the hell is going on?" Stiles rambled for a few minutes before giving up. "And who the hell was that girl in there?"

"That's Natalia." he said. Stiles gave him a look, waiting for more.

"And Natalia is…" he led on. Scott took a deep breath.

"Natalia is a sorceress who helped me time travel." he said quickly, as if they were just ripping off a bandaid. He made a mental note that maybe he didn't have to tell Stiles _everything_ in the future.

"You're shitting me." Stiles said after a moment. "Why in the hell were you time traveling? And why didn't you take me with you?"

"It's a long story." Scott said, already exhausted with the situation. For the upteenth time, he regretted his initial decision to try and change the past. Stiles opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Grace coming out of the house, dragging Natalia by the hand.

"Be right back we'll meet you at the party!" she said, waving at the boys without looking at them.

"Whoa whoa whoa, in what vehicle?" Stiles said, momentarily forgetting his discussion with Scott.

"Yours of course! See you later!" she said, opening Nat's door for her before scurrying around to the other side of the Jeep. Nat waved at him, giving him a nervous smile.

"Um, where are they going?" Scott asked, turning and moving towards the Jeep. Grace didn't give him any time, though, pulling away from the curb. Stiles let out a frustrated sigh.

"Probably back to the house. I imagine it has something to do with outfits or make up or something. Which brings me back to that girl and why you've been time traveling?"

Scott was once again saved by an interruption. This time, his mom came out of the front door, holding a wrapped gift. "You two are still here? I thought you'd go with Grace. You better get going, you know how Lydia gets when you're late."

"Where are we going?" Scott asked, becoming more confused as the time went on. His attention was being pulled in too many directions - he was worried about Nat, but didn't want to give Stiles any more suspicions. Stiles rolled his eyes.

"Did you seriously forget Lydia's birthday party? Okay seriously, _where_ did you get _whatever_ you're on cause it's apparently super powerful-" he said.

"No, no, I just got confused on my days." Scott said, shaking his head. He awkwardly took the present from his mother, as well as the car keys she produced.

"Grace let me know the whole plan before she left. She was very insulted that Natalia didn't have a closet the size of a small bedroom and wanted to run her by the house to get changed." Melissa explained. Scott tried to not freak out; if his mother trusted whoever this girl was, then maybe he could too. Obviously things in this time were much different than they were previously; he had been able to fix a little bit of something, at least. He decided to give them twenty minutes before hunting them down.

The boys climbed into his mom's car. Scott inwardly hoped Lydia lived in the same place, as he didn't know what explanation he could come up with for driving to the wrong house.

"So, I hate to be a pest, but I really think we should get back to this time travel thing." Stiles said as Scott pulled out of the driveway.

"You love being a pest." Scott said.

"Scottie." he said shortly. Scott sighed.

"Long story short, things weren't great, and I was trying to fix them." he said, making his way to Lydia's house.

"That's literally the worst explanation I've ever heard." Stiles said. "I'm detail oriented, Scott. I need more than that."

"'Detail oriented'? That's what you're calling it these days?" Scott said lowly.

"Stop trying to change the subject." Stiles retorted.

"Who's Grace?" Scott asked instead.

"Seriously? Okay, pull over, cause if you're fucked up enough to not remember my _sister_ -"

"Sister?!" Scott exclaimed. He knew that altering the timeline would change things, but it seemed he had landed himself in a completely different dimension. He slammed on the breaks, causing Stiles to yell out a few choice words as the car skidded to a stop. Luckily they were on a quiet neighborhood road, with no one ahead or behind them. He kept his mind enough to put the car in park before battling to get his seatbelt off. His chest felt tight, and he nearly ripped the thing apart trying to get it off of him. His heart was racing, his hands shaking as he pushed the door of the car open, stumbling out onto the pavement.

"Scott, what the fuck is going on?" Stiles said, scrambling out of the car. But Scott couldn't answer. How could he have messed up this much? All he'd wanted to do was fix his life, and now he had completely butchered his world into a chopped mess that he couldn't even recognize. Things were bad before, but all of this felt _wrong_.

Headlights glared at him from down the road, but he could barely register them. Stiles was saying something, but he couldn't hear him over the sound of his blood rushing through his ears. He was pulling at his shirt - trying to get him to move maybe? - but he was paralyzed, his muscles tight with the panic shooting through them. The headlights stopped, blinding his sensitive eyes, but he couldn't make himself look away. Shadows passed around the lights, but they were nothing to Scott. Nothing was tangible. Nothing was real.

A moment later - or was it hours? He wasn't sure - he could hear his name being called. It was distant and garbled, as if it were under water. But he could hear it nonetheless. A pair of hands tenderly laid against his cheeks, blue eyes appearing in front of him.

"Scott, what's wrong?" Nat asked, her face colored with concern. Her face was a little different; Grace had apparently managed to get some makeup on the girl during their trip. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the glittering purple of her magic tracing the veins underneath her skin; he wondered if she could take away emotion like he could with pain. He felt his heartbeat slow, his breathing evening out.

"He had a panic attack." Stiles said. Nat was startled, as if she'd forgotten he was there. She took a step back from Scott, giving Grace room to step in.

"Are you okay?" she asked, taking his hand. At her touch, Scott felt like his head cleaved open with an axe. Images flashed across his brain - him and Grace and Stiles, sitting in the Jeep. Him and Grace and Stiles, hanging out at the Stilinski house. Him and Grace and Stiles, dealing with the effects of the first full moon. He realized that they were memories - memories that the Scott in this timeline must have been making this whole time. The memories played, one after the other, like a clip montague on fast forward. When they finally stopped, he was laying on the street, the pavement warm under his back. Three concerned faces stared at him, the street lamps giving them all halos.

"What the fuck was that?" Stiles asked. Scott inched his way to a sitting position, then climbed back on his feet.

"Hell if I know." he said. He felt exhausted; all his energy was sapped between the time travelling, the panic attack, and the appearance of whatever memories he apparently needed to fill the gaps. He looked at Grace again, and for some reason felt sadness towards her. He couldn't make sense of it, and figured it had to do with the nature of her relationship with Other Scott. Everyone looked afraid to get too close to him, which made him feel awkward and uncomfortable. "Let's just go."

"To the hospital? Yes, I agree." Stiles said, gesturing towards the Jeep. Scott shook his head.

"Whatever it is, it's passed now. I'm okay." he said. Nobody moved. "Seriously, Lydia's gonna kill us. I'll just make sure to drink plenty of water when we get there."

"You're not blaming this on dehydration." Stiles said.

"I said let's go." Scott said shortly. He was tired. So completely tired. He pried open the door to his mom's car, hearing Nat's footsteps as she trotted along to the other side. Stiles made a comment behind him about driving under the influence, but he ignored him. Grace looked like she wanted to get in the car too, but instead turned and went to the passenger side of the Jeep. Scott closed the car door behind him, the silence in the car feeling like it was smothering him.

"Are you okay?" Nat asked after a moment.

"I don't know." he said truthfully. "Is that normal?"

She nodded. "The magic tries to fill in the gaps for you, but since it's different than it was before...it can only do so much."

"Why didn't it do it last time?" he asked.

"Probably because you were dead in that timeline. There was no consciousness to try and connect to you." she said with a shrug. He let out a long breath.

"Alright, well, I guess we have a birthday party to get to." he said. Nat didn't respond, not knowing what she could say to make him feel better.

"You celebrate the day you were born?" she asked, changing the subject.

"What? Yes?" he said, confused and surprised. "You don't?"

"I don't even know what day it was." she said with a shrug. She seemed unbothered by the fact, though for some reason it saddened Scott. "Is this the one with the trees and the lights?"

"Uh, no. That's Christmas." he said. Her eyes lit up.

"So this is the one with the cake and the candles?" she asked eagerly.

"Yea. Wait, how do you know about it if you don't celebrate it?" he asked.

"Well, I could always see the celebrations going on. I just never really knew what they were for." she said. Once again, she didn't sound worried about it. And once again, Scott found himself feeling oddly sad for her. He and his mom never had much, but Christmases and birthdays were always special.

"When do you think your birthday is?" he asked. He immediately regretted asking it out loud; it would not make her feel better to remind her that she didn't know when her birthday is.

"I don't know." she said with a shrug.

"Well, when do you want it to be?" he asked instead. Scott was nothing but a problem solver. Nat sat in silence for a moment, thinking. He wondered what was going on in her head; based on what he could tell, she probably didn't use the normal calendar. Phases of the moon and alignment of the stars seemed more her style.

"What's the one with the sparkles?" she asked.

"Sparkles...in the sky?" Scott countered. She shook her head.

"The girls wear sparkles. And everyone kisses at midnight." she said. Scott grinned.

"New Year's." he said. Her brows furrowed.

"But it doesn't always follow the cycle of the lunar new year." she said.

"No it, uh, follows the regular calendar." he replied, unsure of how else to explain it.

"Oh, the twelve month one." she said.

"Yea." Scott said, not knowing what else to say. Nat was constantly surprising him by both how little and how much she knew about the world. She sat back against the seat with a self satisfied smile.

"I like that one the best. I'll take that one." she said. "How long until my birthday?"

"Ah, it kind of just passed." Scott said with a grimace. "It's March now. Your birthday is January 1st."

She let out a sigh. "Ten months? That'll take forever."

"Don't worry, it'll be here before you know it." he said. By now, they had pulled up in front of Lydia's house, and his werewolf senses made it obvious that the party was in full swing. He pushed the door of the car open and climbed out, remembering last moment to grab the gift for Lydia from the back seat. Nat followed uncertainly behind him, not sure what to expect of the evening.

To be fair, this was not like any birthday party that Scott had been to before. As soon as they opened the door, the stench of people and alcohol and something illegal hit him. Nat scrunched her nose as well, telling him that the smells weren't just due to his werewolf senses. Scott idly wondered if Lydia had decided to make the theme for this party "1940s opium den". The lights were low, the music loud, and a lot of people around were definitely under the influence. Since most of them seemed to also be werewolves, Scott wasn't exactly sure what they were under the influence of - he had learned the hard way that alcohol and weed didn't exactly do it for them anymore.

Scott recognized a couple of the people he'd met after his first round trip of time travel, but some of them were missing. He didn't know if they just hadn't arrived, but he didn't particularly care to find out. There were a good number of people there that he didn't recognize, which made him nervous. Next to him, Nat slipped her hand around his elbow, keeping close to him. This whole situation felt weird and wrong, and it seemed like he wasn't the only person who thought so.

"Finally!" Lydia said, appearing in front of him. She practically jumped on him, wrapping her arms tightly around his shoulders. Scott reacted quickly, pulling away from Nat and putting his arms around her. Based on the weird smells coming from her, she may not stick the landing if he didn't support her.

"Uh, hey Lydia." he said uncertainly. She didn't hear the quiver in his voice in her current state. She finally let go, and Scott had to steady her as her feet hit the floor. "This is for you." he said awkwardly, holding the gift out in front of him.

"Aw, what a sweetheart." she said. She took the parcel from him, pulling the tissue from the bag in quick snaps. Scott honestly had no idea what was in the bag, and hoped it was something satisfactory. She reached in, dropping the bag as she held on to whatever was inside.

"Oh my god! You found it!" she said, gazing in reverence at the very old book in her hands. There was a weird symbol on the front, and writing in a language Scott didn't recognize. There was a vague memory in his internal library of searching for this - apparently it was a bestiary. The language on the front was Hindi. She laid a sloppy kiss on his cheek, then flitted toward the stairs. She mentioned something about taking it to her room for safekeeping, and Scott didn't question her.

The living room was even more of a mess than the entrance. There were people _everywhere_. Some were lying on the floor, pointing out imaginary patterns on the ceiling. Some were lying on each other, oblivious to those around them. Everywhere there were bodies of people - talking, laughing, dancing, fighting - an absolute bedlam of a birthday party. Scott looked over to the bar to see Stiles and Grace had snuck in behind them. Stiles was knocking back a shot of some weird blue liquid, whereas Grace was pouring her own shot from a flask that had apparently been in her purse. He watched as they each took two more - Grace from the flask, and Stiles from an odd, dark bottle that didn't have a label. It made him nervous.

"'Ey, Scottie boy." Stiles said, bringing a small glass over to him. "Your turn."

"Uh, no thanks." Scott said. At the look on Stiles' face, he quickly added, "I'll get one in a little bit. Gotta make sure Nat is okay first." He didn't feel her hand on his arm anymore, and turned to look for her.

"She's fine." Stiles said, drawing out his words. He pulled Scott towards the door to the pool area. Whatever he drank, it was hitting him fast. And it didn't help that he added the fourth shot that had supposedly been for Scott.

"Stiles, what are you drinking?" he asked slowly, completely stopping.

"What, this?" he answered, gesturing to the empty shot glass. "I know it's not your favorite, but hey, when it's your birthday then you can request that weird stuff-"

"What? Stiles, how are you drunk right now? What is that stuff?" Scott interrupted.

"Uh, I'm drunk cause it's fun, and this stuff happens to be my favorite." Stiles said, not hearing the tone of Scott's voice.

"It's dangerous." Scott said. All he could think of was the night of the bonfire, one of many nights they almost died.

"Yea it is. That's kind of the point." Stiles said with a humorless laugh. "But we're all gonna die one day, so might as well make the best of it."

"What?" Scott said, honestly shocked at the answer. The way Stiles worded the answer, it sounded like there was a joke that Scott was missing. Stiles checked his watch.

"Forty-seven days, bro." Stiles said. His tone suggested a joke, but his eyes betrayed the seriousness of the matter. Whatever he was talking about, he wasn't kidding.

"Forty-seven...Stiles, what's happening in forty-seven days?" Scott asked, starting to freak out. Stiles paused for a moment, and Scott could practically see the wheels turning as his drunken mind attempted to formulate a response.

"Ask me in the morning, okay?" he said lowly. He cleared his throat loudly, switching back to the jovial mood he had before. "But tonight, we party! Gracie!"

"Huh?" Grace called back from across the room from where she was lounging on a couch, talking to a blonde that Scott vaguely recognized from the Second Time.

"Another!" he said, wandering back to the bar. Grace echoed his proclamation, pulling out her flask again. Scott noticed, too soon, that Nat was also by the bar. And stuck between a devious looking Erica and Isaac. Scott watched in horror as Erica took a clear glass of the blue stuff, putting it at Nat's lips and helping her tip it back. He strided across the room, ignoring all the people around him.

"Nat, are you okay?" he asked, gently pulling her by the hand. Erica stepped forward, draping her arm around Nat's shoulders.

"She's having a great time, don't worry about it." she said. Nat looked confused, and Scott had the feeling she was seeing the world a little differently than usual. Whatever this stuff was, it was strong, and worked very fast.

"Natalia, how many did they give you?" he asked carefully. She looked at her hands, a look of intense concentration on her face.

"Nothing she can't handle." Isaac said smoothly, just as Nat held up four fingers.

" _Four?!"_ Scott nearly yelled. He heard laughing from behind him. He turned to see Grace, who was looking past him at Nat.

"Someone had too much." she said in a sing-song voice. Scott snapped back to Nat, who indeed looked like she was regretting every shot she took.

"Let's go outside." he said, grabbing her hand a little firmer this time and pulling her away. Erica's laugh followed them as he pushed their way across the room and out the back door, the light of the pool making Nat look even more sickly. Her hand held a supernatural warmth to it, so Scott took them past the pool and into the woods behind Lydia's house. Nat collapsed against a tree once they were out of sight of the house, holding on to it for dear life as she leaned over and vomited. Scott could see every vein under her skin glowing purple as her body reacted to whatever was in the drink. He held her hair, rubbing her back in soothing circles. The heat radiating off of her had passed from uncanny to worrisome. She mumbled something to him, but he couldn't understand her. He moved his ear closer to her face and asked her to repeat.

"You need to move!" she said forcefully. Scott hesitated, and the extra second he took before moving away cost him.

Her magic started ebbing away from her skin, the dust particles in the air around her erupting into flames. Scott suddenly realized what was happening, and attempted to move away from her. Before he could make it a safe distance, her magic exploded in a swirling purple sphere around her. He felt the searing pain as the flesh along his chest and arm burned, most of his face spared by throwing his hand in front of it. Nat was screaming, as if the magic was burning her from the inside out. He didn't know how long she screamed, but he knew that it was much longer than he thought she could.

Finally, she ran out of air. The sphere around her dropped, leaving the trees and grass around them smoking in the after effects of the heat. Nat fell to her knees, supporting herself with her hands on the charred ground as she vomited once again. Scott tried to climb to his feet, but found that the front of his leg was burned as well. He crawled over to her, managing to get an arm around her before she collapsed. She shook as she laid against his chest; she was crying.

"Shh, it's okay." he said softly, tenderly rubbing her back. Each movement sent lightning bolts of pain through his arm and chest, but he fought to ignore it. They would heal - he could already feel his eyes glowing as his powers kicked in. Once her sobs reduced to sniffles, Nat pushed herself to a seated position, staring at him with wide eyes. Her tears made her cheeks shimmer in the moonlight.

"I'm-I'm sorry." she stammered. Her words were slurred, leading Scott to believe that she was still drunk. Her jaw dropped as she saw his wounds - to be fair, they were much more extensive than Scott originally anticipated. Her hand flew to her mouth in shock, and for a split second Scott was afraid she was going to vomit again.

"It's okay." he said quickly, his hand going to her cheek. Her skin was cool, just like the first time she had attempted time travel. She shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." she said.

"There's no way you could have known the drink would have affected you like that." he said. He held his arm up, pointing to the new pink flesh forming at the edges. "See? It's already starting to heal. Everything's okay."

She shook her head again. "I'm sorry about everything. I'm sorry that I messed everything up. I wanted so badly to help and I just…" she hesitated. The alcohol was slowing her thoughts. "I'm sorry I couldn't be better."

Scott looked at the defeated expression on her face and felt his heart break a little. She was no longer sobbing, but tears still flowed readily from her eyes. She couldn't stand to look at him, and was instead looking at her hands as if they had betrayed her. She looked very young in that moment, reminding him that they were all too young to be dealing with the messy hand that life had dealt them.

"You're the best, okay?" he said, tilting her chin up with his hand. Their faces were very close, and the thought of kissing her quickly flitted across his mind, but it didn't stick. "You are smart, and talented, and very, very strong. Do not doubt yourself, okay?"

She looked at him very intently then. The kissing thought made a reappearance, and Scott wondered what she was thinking. He couldn't read her expression, and her eyes had the semi-unfocused look of someone under the influence. After what seemed like a long time, Nat gave him a shy half-smile. Her tears had finally stopped.

"You're a great alpha, you know that?" she said. Whatever he had been expecting, that wasn't really it.

"It never hurts to be reminded." he said with a shrug. He held out his non-burned hand. "Come on, let's get you back home."

"What about your friends?" she asked as they stood up and started walking back to the house. Scott shook his head.

"They'll be fine without us." he said. He suddenly remembered Stiles' cryptic "forty-seven days" comment, but resigned to worry about it in the morning. "Besides, they don't feel like my friends. Not really."

"Even with the extra memories?" she asked.

"Those don't even feel like _me_." he responded. He was quiet then, trying with every fiber of his being to not let the anxiety overwhelm him again. He focused on putting one foot in front of the other, and keeping his grasp around Nat's waist as she stumbled over the uneven ground. The silence in the car was welcome, allowing his heart to slow to a regular pace as they drove back to the McCall house. Scott had no idea what time it was, and tried to be quiet as they walked in the front door.

"You're home early." Melissa said, nearly scaring Scott and Nat half to death. Luckily, Scott's wounds had healed by now. However, she spotted Nat in her current state. "Ah, and now I see why."

"Do you think you could help her clean up? She...this isn't her fault." Scott implored. He hoped Melissa would understand, and not be mad about him bringing home a drunk version of the girl she had met just a couple hours before.

Melissa got it. "Yes, absolutely. Come here, honey. Let's get you in the shower and then in some sweatpants." She wrapped her arm around Nat, helping her slowly walk back to her room. Scott let out a sigh of relief; that would be one less thing he had to worry about tonight. He went upstairs to his own room, stripping down and getting in the shower himself. He wanted to wash away every remnant of this night.

Some time after he had showered and gotten dressed, his mom appeared in his doorway. She knocked softly on the open door, getting his attention.

"Seems like you guys had an eventful evening." Melissa said softly, coming to sit next to Scott on the bed. He let out a humorless laugh.

"You could say that." he replied. "Some kids at the party...she didn't know what she was drinking. She didn't know what it could do to her."

"That's what I gathered." she said. She put her arm around Scott, kissing the side of his head. He gave her a confused look. "She said that you took care of her. That she didn't know what she would do without you."

Scott blushed. He didn't think about Nat drunkenly rambling to his mom. "Is she okay?" he asked instead. Melissa nodded.

"She's in the downstairs room, fast asleep. I made sure she had a lot of water before she went to bed." she said.

"Thank you, Mom." Scott said.

"Anytime, hon." she replied. She gave him another kiss on the head, then stood up to leave. "I would like a little more explanation in the morning, though. Of whatever is going on here." she said, gesturing to his body - particularly the newly healed side.

"You got it." Scott said. "Goodnight, Mom."

"Goodnight, sweetheart." she replied, turning and walking away.

Scott laid down, the soft sheets feeling cool and nice against the newly healed skin of his chest and arm. He knew his mom would notice, and he was grateful that she hadn't mentioned it earlier. He stubbornly pushed all his worries to the back of his mind, focusing on his breathing and trying to go to sleep.

Tomorrow would bring its own challenges.

* * *

Did you cry? I cried.

Again, thank you so much to everyone for your continued support! I am determined to finished this story. It may take me a decade, but it will happen.

Thank you to JanuaryLily, thechosenpen, Shadow-wolf78, allybz, and notcarlsjr for your reviews! You are all beautiful wonderful people and I don't know what I would do without you.

If you have a second, please leave a review and let me know what you thought!

-XM


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